Abstract
Heightened public awareness about gender diversity in childhood and adolescence has resulted in more youth and families seeking medical and mental health services. In response to these needs, there has been nationwide growth in specialized multidisciplinary clinics treating gender-diverse and transgender youth. Despite general agreement that comprehensive treatment is best delivered through a multidisciplinary team by both medical and mental health clinicians with gender-related expertise and familiarity with child and adolescent development, there is currently no consensus regarding the best approach to clinical care with gender-diverse and transgender youth. In this article, we provide a narrative review of the gender affirmative model guiding our clinical practice and describe the development of our unique model of affirming care within the Gender and Sex Development Program at the Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago.
Highlights
The first multidisciplinary pediatric gender clinic in the United States was formally established in 2007.1 Since that time, heightened public awareness about gender diversity has resulted in more youth and families seeking medical and mental health services to better understand youths’ gender development and identities, social gender transition, and/or physical transition to an affirmed gender.[2,3,4]
Despite general agreement that comprehensive care is best delivered through a multidisciplinary team that comprises both medical and mental health clinicians,[6,7,8,9] there is currently no consensus regarding the best approach to clinical care with gender-diverse and transgender youth
We provide a narrative review of the gender affirmative model[10] guiding our clinical practice and describe the development of our unique model of affirming care within the Gender and Sex Development Program (GSDP) at the Ann & Robert H
Summary
The first multidisciplinary pediatric gender clinic in the United States was formally established in 2007.1 Since that time, heightened public awareness about gender diversity has resulted in more youth and families seeking medical and mental health services to better understand youths’ gender development and identities, social gender transition, and/or physical transition to an affirmed gender.[2,3,4] In response to these needs, there has been nationwide growth in specialized clinics for gender-diverse and transgender youth.[5]. (1) Peer Consultation: Following a patient’s initiation of care in GSDP, our behavioral health clinicians attempt to establish phone-based peer consultation with a patient’s primary therapist (when one exists) This consultation consists of provider education regarding gender development, transgender identity, GD course, social and medical aspects of gender transition, and consultation on conducting an assessment of readiness for youth pursing medical/surgical interventions. In summer 2016, GSDP will offer a physical wellness group to gender-diverse youth ages 14 + This weekly, 10-session physical wellness program focuses on developing personal wellness goals, increasing knowledge of cardiovascular and weight training techniques, improving nutrition practices, and facilitating social support. GSDP did not initially anticipate the growth potential of the education and community outreach arm of our program; given the success of our PM in directly impacting the health and well-being of our patients through community engagement, our team would recommend burgeoning gender programs consider dedicating staff to these efforts
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