Mon 31 Oct 2016 In: New Zealand Daily News View at Wayback View at NDHA
The inequalities faced by transgender people regarding health and wellbeing is the new area of research by a University of Waikato researcher who aims to bring transgender healthcare issues under the spotlight. Dr Jamie Veale Psychology lecturer Dr Jaimie Veale says that while New Zealand is increasing accepting of transgender people, reflected in the inclusion of transgender characters in television and film, there has been little research done here to access their needs. "We know very little about the risk, health and resilience factors for transgender people in New Zealand," says Dr Veale. "This is partly because many of our large health studies don’t ask about transgender identity.” Having recently released information highlighting that sexually active transgender youth are just as likely to get pregnant as their cis-gendered peers, Dr Veale is now beginning research that looks at the physical and emotional health needs of transgender people and explores how these differ from the needs of the general population. The new study will be undertaken in collaboration with the transgender community, health professionals, policy makers and other researchers in the fields of psychology, nursing, education and human geography. Her most recent study showed that a lack of mental and sexual health support for transgender people was linked to the level of discrimination they experienced. "Those who reported experiences of discrimination, stigma, harassment and difficulties with accessing appropriate healthcare were more likely to report mental health difficulties," she says.
Credit: GayNZ.com Daily News staff
First published: Monday, 31st October 2016 - 1:31pm