At HCCWA we regularly host interns from the McCusker Centre for Citzenship at UWA because we believe in helping to educate future leaders, as well as having the opportunity to get input on projects we’re keen to make happen and wouldn’t otherwise be able to Students who choose the McCusker Internship as an elective in for one semester are placed with an organisation where they undertake 100 hours of supervised project work.
Evelyn Le joined us in semester one. She is undertaking a major in Biomedical Science (Pharmacology) with a minor in French, so her time spent at HCCWA was a new opportunity for her to think about a different type of work and a different way of undertaking research.
Evelyn undertook a literature review to identify the barriers that are faced by LGBTQIA+SB people in accessing healthcare in Western Australia, and further to identify what resources exist to assist members of the LGBTQIA+SB community to navigate the health system and be aware of their health rights. We developed this project brief after our Executive Director was invited to attend the Youth Pride Network Queeries event last year and heard from participants how challenging many people in the LGBTQIA+SB community found it to find welcoming safe healthcare.
Evelyn presented her findings to all staff at the end of her internship, and included:
- That the LGBTQIA+SB community have higher rates of some mental illnesses than other people
- That often young members of the LGBTQIA+SB community find themselves having to educate their medical practitioners
- That gender diverse people find healthcare particularly challenging when being faced with health procedures that they associate with a different gender – such as cervical screening tests.
- That young gender diverse people feel unsupported by healthcare workers if they do not address them using their preferred name, pronouns and gender.
- That there is a strong intersectionality issue around young LGTBQIA+SB people who are living in rural areas being able to access safe and supportive healthcare.
These findings helped Evelyn to identify gaps in resources for LGBTQIA+SB people in accessing care. She found that while there are ample resources around for LGBTQIA+SB that relate to their specific health needs, there are not very many resources around their health rights and where to seek support for those rights. We’re looking to use Evelyn’s great research and advice to ensure that all community members are well informed of their health rights.
Our next steps are to reach out to LGBTQIA+SB peak bodies and explore how HCC can support their efforts to advocate for more inclusive accessible healthcare for the community.