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Community-Engaged Qualitative Study on Supporting Transgender and Gender-Diverse Standardized Patients in Medical
Steven Allon1, Andrew Kittleson2, Pepper Heifner3
1Department of Medicine, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN, USA. steven.allon@vumc.org.
Background:
Transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) individuals experience high rates of adverse physical and mental health outcomes, in part due to negative healthcare experiences that discourage healthcare utilization. Affirming practices by providers can mitigate this distress, but medical education to build these skills is limited. Medical simulation offers an opportunity to enhance affirming communication, but best practices in supporting TGD standardized patients (SPs) are lacking.
Objective:
This study sought to develop a preliminary guideline on recruitment, portrayal, and support of TGD SPs.
Design:
We utilized a modified Delphi technique to identify consensus guidelines for medical simulation programs incorporating TGD individuals as standardized actors in simulation scenarios.
Participants:
Fifty TGD community members and parents of TGD children in Middle Tennessee provided embodied knowledge.
Approach:
We administered a survey examining participants' perspectives on recruitment, casting, and supporting TGD SPs in medical simulations. Thematic analysis was used to derive guideline statements, which were refined using participant feedback over two additional survey rounds.
Key Results:
Our sample consisted of 50 participants (96% TGD). We derived 44 guideline statements related to recruitment, casting, and supporting TGD SPs. Participants recommended recruitment of prospective TGD SPs through established venues holding trusted relationships with the TGD community, honestly conveying the benefits and drawbacks of this work. A gradient of acceptable casting decisions emerged, anchored by the gender identity of the simulated patient, to ensure shared lived experiences between an SP and their cast role. Participants offered strategies throughout simulation encounters to enhance TGD SPs' agency, facilitate psychological safety, and process emotions to improve simulation programs' support of TGD SPs.
Conclusions:
We utilized a modified Delphi technique with TGD community members to derive a consensus guideline to support TGD SPs. Our study addressed key unresolved questions in the literature, particularly around recruitment and casting, with a high level of agreement.
