The Assessment of Transgender Inclusivity in Pennsylvania Healthcare Facilities
Open Access
Author:
Nair, Jacob Dawson
Area of Honors:
Biobehavioral Health
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Dr. Joshua George Rosenberger, Thesis Supervisor Dr. Lori Anne Francis, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
Transgender LGBT Healthcare Health disparities hospitals Pennsylvania gender identity LGBTQ+
Abstract:
Transgender individuals underutilize healthcare systems in the United States due to stigmas, discrimination, a lack of competent practitioners, inexistent treatment guidelines, and insurance coverage. A scoring system, the Transgender Inclusivity Scoring System (TISS), was created to assess the trans-inclusivity of healthcare facilities in Pennsylvania via their websites. An interactive map of facilities and their trans-inclusivity scores was created using google maps. The average inclusivity star score of facilities in Pennsylvania was 0.73 out of 4 and the majority of counties did not have any three or four-star healthcare facilities. A linear relationship between urban population and trans-inclusivity was not found. It is unclear whether these finding are due to a lack of trans-inclusivity in the facilities or advertisement of their trans-inclusivity on their websites. It can be concluded that the underutilization of care by trans patients can be partially attributed to the low trans-inclusivity scores of healthcare facilities in Pennsylvania.
