Correcting health-care providers who assume he害羞草研究所檚 heterosexual gets tiring for Jeremy Long, who wants his queer identity to be acknowledged and counted in electronic health records.
害羞草研究所淚t害羞草研究所檚 taxing on a person害羞草研究所檚 mental health and their ability to be understood by the world and to have to constantly feel like it害羞草研究所檚 a piece of the fight of coming out again and again, which can be retraumatizing,害羞草研究所� the 38-year-old said from Vancouver.
害羞草研究所淧eople aren害羞草研究所檛 always asking questions that lead to more understanding. They害羞草研究所檙e just labelling and so to have to correct that, it feels exhausting.害羞草研究所�
Long, who came out at age 15, said LGBTQ patients too often face judgment and feel unsafe when they seek care.
Advocates are pushing for the inclusion of gender, sex and sexual orientation (GSSO) information in electronic health records through a co-ordinated and standardized approach across the country.
The Community-Based Research Centre, based in Vancouver, released a report Wednesday (July 5) calling for all jurisdictions to add more fields on medical forms that would capture the full diversity of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Michael Kwag, the centre害羞草研究所檚 executive director, said that information is either misrepresented or not properly collected in Canada害羞草研究所檚 health-care system. Including it would make it easier to plan for services the LGBTQ community needs, improve access to appropriate care and lead to better health outcomes, says the centre害羞草研究所檚 report.
害羞草研究所淟esbian, gay, bisexual or queer people do have unique health needs and at times also experience higher rates of physical and mental health issues,害羞草研究所� Kwag said of issues such as depression, anxiety and sexually transmitted diseases including syphilis.
Trans people may also not be screened for breast, cervical or prostate cancer if their electronic health records are not updated, he noted.
Kwag said clerical and administrative workers, as well as health-care professionals, should be trained to better understand sex and gender as distinct concepts. Sex refers to someone害羞草研究所檚 physical characteristics, such as male, female and intersex, and gender is how people identify themselves.
He also cautioned health-care workers about the harms of 害羞草研究所渄eadnaming害羞草研究所� patients and using incorrect pronouns, which can happen if medical records are not updated to reflect gender identity.
The research centre害羞草研究所檚 report recommends Health Canada work with provinces and territories to encourage adoption of evolving terminology to include LGBTQ identities in health records.
In an emailed response, Health Canada said collecting standardized data on gender, sex and sexual orientation is a critical step to understanding health-care inequities and discrimination.
Work led by Canada Health Infoway, the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) and Statistics Canada tries to encourage all jurisdictions to adopt common technical and data standards, including the recording of a patient害羞草研究所檚 gender, sex and sexual orientation.
害羞草研究所淭hese commitments are expected to improve the quality and safety of patient care and provide decision makers with a more complete picture of the health-care system.害羞草研究所�
Francis Lau, a retired researcher at the University of Victoria害羞草研究所檚 school of health information science, said that four years ago, he created an ongoing working group on sex, gender and sexual orientation with Canada Health Infoway, a federally funded non-profit working to improve health-care delivery through use of digital records.
Lau, who co-chaired the group until recently, said it released a national plan two years ago for provinces and territories to consult with various community groups about collecting and using information related to gender, sex and sexual orientation. Some provinces, including Alberta and British Columbia, have published standards on those issues.
An Alberta Health Services spokesman said provincial standards were developed in 2019 to collect patient information on diverse genders and sexual orientation at all health-care settings and pharmacies as part of a system called Connect Care.
It is expected to be rolled out next year and will include pharmacies.
However, data on sex assigned at birth is requested only if it is clinically relevant and a patient can choose not to disclose any information, he said.
B.C.害羞草研究所檚 Health Ministry released a 害羞草研究所淕SSO Health Information and Guidance害羞草研究所� document earlier this year about the collection of data to 害羞草研究所渟upport trauma-informed care that addresses barriers to access such as misnaming, misgendering, outing and missed opportunities for preventive screening.
It includes guidance on using yet-to-be-specified coding to record people害羞草研究所檚 negative experiences in the health-care system, such as transphobia, 害羞草研究所渨orries related to gender expression and 害羞草研究所渃isnormative bias,害羞草研究所� or the assumption that everyone害羞草研究所檚 gender identity matches their biological sex.
Lau said the Canada Health Infoway working group is trying to come up with coding in medical records for various sexual orientations and for those who may be gender fluid or do not want to disclose that information.
害羞草研究所淭he action plan only talks about what needs to be done,害羞草研究所� Lau said. 害羞草研究所淚t left the when, how, who to the jurisdictions and organizations, the governments, because you need time and resources to do it.害羞草研究所�
Camille Bains, The Canadian Press
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