News

13 – 19 November is Trans Awareness Week, a time to help raise awareness of the issues facing trans, gender-diverse, and non-binary people and promote a more fair and equal world for everyone.

Trans people face barriers to palliative care due to stigma and a lack of inclusive training in healthcare. Many trans people have experienced discrimination, leading to fears about prejudice in healthcare settings. Many have struggled with healthcare providers making assumptions about family structures and relationships or overlooking a person’s chosen family or support network. Because of these barriers, trans people may delay accessing palliative care, or present with more advanced disease.

To ensure quality care, palliative care services must be safe and inclusive and volunteers have their part to play in this. Some strategies to follow are:

• Create a safe space where trans people can receive care without prejudice
• Be respectful of a trans person’s identity
• Use inclusive language, respect pronouns
• Treat their chosen family and caregivers with dignity and respect
• Support advance care planning to record end-of-life preference and values
• Get educated

The LGBTIQ+ Palliative Care project offers free eLearning that will increase your confidence in providing inclusive palliative care. There are four modules which cover the following topics:

• Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and queer (LGBTIQ+) communities and their specific healthcare needs
• End-of-life concerns and barriers to palliative care for LGBTIQ+ people
• How to have inclusive end-of-life conversations
• Strategies to support loved ones, and
• How to create welcoming and inclusive environments

Click here to access the eLearning.