Newswise — New York, N. Y. – November 3, 2015. Today, The New York Academy of Medicine released the report “Transgender: Speaking Out for Better Health” to launch the one-of-a-kind series of reports City Voices: New Yorkers on Health, based on information gathered through an unusual and revealing Community Needs Assessment (CNA) focused on the health needs of New Yorkers across the city.
City Voices is a rare collection of personal narratives from residents drawn from a CNA that covers an unprecedented range of health issues from transgender health access, aging and battling diabetes; to depression, disparities in care, and the challenges faced by immigrant communities.
“We think it is so important to share the information in “Transgender: Speaking Out for Better Health,” at a time when the report’s findings underscore the importance of Gov. Cuomo’s decision last week to extend civil rights protections to transgender people to address discrimination against them in housing, employment, and other aspects of life,” Jo Ivey Boufford,” MD, President of the Academy.
“Transgender: Speaking Out for Better Health,” draws on information from several City Voices’ focus groups and interviews with transgender (trans) women and men, as well as health and social services providers that serve the LGBT community. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, the City Voices research team found that trans persons have extensive health needs, but and still face pervasive discrimination and poorly educated providers who do not know how to treat them when seeking care.
“When you say ‘I’m trans’ at the doctor they give you this look of death, like ‘trans?’ and then I have to explain ... female to male and they go, “what’s that?”- Transman
“We’ve [LGBT care provider] gotten calls from people who have gotten thrown out of gynecologists’ offices because they’ll say we don’t see men ... then they have to explain that they have female anatomy and the doctors are so uninformed.”- Transwoman
“Transgender: Speaking Out for Better Health,” give trans New Yorkers an opportunity to help set the agenda for important policy changes that may impact their health care. The report also gives policymakers, health care providers, community groups, and others a one-of-kind opportunity to learn what transgender New Yorkers really want and need when it comes to their health and well-being.
The City Voices: New Yorkers on Health series is one of the first studies released by the research and evaluation team of the Academy’s newly-formed Institute of Urban Health, home of our interdisciplinary research, evaluation, policy and program initiatives.
The New York Academy of Medicine advances solutions that promote the health and well-being of people in cities worldwide. Established in 1847, The New York Academy of Medicine continues to address the health challenges facing New York City and the world’s rapidly growing urban populations. We accomplish this through our Institute for Urban Health, home of interdisciplinary research, evaluation, policy and program initiatives; our world class historical medical library and its public programming in history, the humanities and the arts; and our Fellows program, a network of more than 2,000 experts elected by their peers from across the professions affecting health. Our current priorities are healthy aging, disease prevention, and eliminating health disparities.
The Academy’s Institute for Urban Health houses the Center for Health Policy and Programs—home to expert policy advisors and award-winning community-based programs – as well as three research centers including—the Center for Cognitive Studies in Medicine & Public Health, the Center for Health Innovation, and the Center for Evaluation and Applied Research. Working in our current priority areas of healthy aging, disease prevention, and eliminating health disparities, we pursue solutions that consider the social, physical, environmental, and economic conditions that impact the health of individuals and their communities.
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