LGBTIQA+ Patient Liaison Service—Seeking to Improve the Experience of Hospitalised LGBTIQA+ People

IF 2.1 4区医学 Q3 HEALTH CARE SCIENCES & SERVICES

Journal of evaluation in clinical practice Pub Date : 2025-07-17 DOI:10.1111/jep.70160

Suzi Hayes, Connor Gryffydd, Jane Jolley, Michelle Lin, Aruska N. D'Souza

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Rationale

People in LGBTIQA+ communities often have high unmet health care needs partially due to experiences of poor treatment and LGBTIQA+ identity-based discrimination in health care settings. LGBTIQA+ informed health care providers are essential to enhancing care. In 2021, The Royal Melbourne Hospital established an LGBTIQA+ Liaison Service. This service consisted of lived experience practitioners with allied health backgrounds; they supported patients and delivered education to staff.

Aims

This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility (demand, practicality and limited efficacy) of an LGBTIQA+ Liaison Service at a large tertiary hospital in Australia.

Methods

This prospective feasibility study was conducted at a large tertiary hospital in Victoria, Australia. Patient demographics (demand) and services provided (practicality) were documented. Self-rated staff understanding of LGBTIQA+ care in hospital was collected pre and post-education sessions (limited efficacy).

Results

In 2022, 63 referrals were made to the LGBTIQA+ Liaison Service from 44 patients (median age 27 [26–40 years]). Most were transgender and gender diverse people (n = 34, 54%) and one quarter were First Nations people (n = 16, 25%). The most common interventions were liaising with internal and external parties—including multidisciplinary teams—and providing peer support. Staff (n = 1226) who attended LGBTIQA+ education sessions reported statistical improvements in understanding the experience of LGBTIQA+ people, inclusive practice, available supports and referring to the Service.

Conclusion

Within a large tertiary hospital, there was demand for the LGBTIQA+ Liaison Service from both staff and patients, particularly transgender, gender diverse and First Nations peoples. The education and support delivered and provided in this setting improved clinician capability.

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LGBTIQA+患者联络服务——寻求改善住院LGBTIQA+患者的体验

LGBTIQA+社区的人群往往有很高的未满足的卫生保健需求，部分原因是卫生保健机构中待遇差和基于LGBTIQA+身份的歧视。LGBTIQA+知情的卫生保健提供者对加强护理至关重要。2021年，皇家墨尔本医院建立了LGBTIQA+联络服务。这项服务由具有相关保健背景的生活经验从业人员组成；他们为病人提供帮助，为员工提供教育。本研究旨在评估澳大利亚一家大型三级医院LGBTIQA+联络服务的可行性（需求、实用性和有限疗效）。方法在澳大利亚维多利亚州的一家大型三级医院进行前瞻性可行性研究。记录了患者人口统计（需求）和提供的服务（实用性）。收集自评员工对医院LGBTIQA+护理的了解程度（教育前和教育后）（效果有限）。结果2022年，共有44例患者（中位年龄27岁[26-40岁]）63例转介至LGBTIQA+联络服务。大多数是跨性别和性别多样化的人（n = 34,54%），四分之一是第一民族（n = 16,25%）。最常见的干预措施是与内部和外部各方（包括多学科团队）保持联系，并提供同伴支持。参加LGBTIQA+教育课程的工作人员（n = 1226）报告了在理解LGBTIQA+人群的经历、包容性实践、可用支持和参考服务方面的统计改进。结论在一家大型三级医院内，工作人员和患者，特别是跨性别者、多元性别者和第一民族，都对LGBTIQA+联络服务有需求。在这种情况下提供的教育和支持提高了临床医生的能力。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Journal of evaluation in clinical practice 医学-卫生保健

CiteScore

4.80

自引率

4.20%

发文量

143

审稿时长

3-8 weeks

期刊介绍： The Journal of Evaluation in Clinical Practice aims to promote the evaluation and development of clinical practice across medicine, nursing and the allied health professions. All aspects of health services research and public health policy analysis and debate are of interest to the Journal whether studied from a population-based or individual patient-centred perspective. Of particular interest to the Journal are submissions on all aspects of clinical effectiveness and efficiency including evidence-based medicine, clinical practice guidelines, clinical decision making, clinical services organisation, implementation and delivery, health economic evaluation, health process and outcome measurement and new or improved methods (conceptual and statistical) for systematic inquiry into clinical practice. Papers may take a classical quantitative or qualitative approach to investigation (or may utilise both techniques) or may take the form of learned essays, structured/systematic reviews and critiques.