036: LGBTQ+ Inclusion in Healthcare with Shannon Whittington
According to research, there are over 9 million gay people and 1.5 million trans people in America. However, the average healthcare professional in the US receives about 2 hours of LGBTQ+ education only.
It is high time that healthcare providers understand their patients better.
In this episode, we speak with Shannon Whittington, award-winning & certified LGBTQ+ health expert on the importance of inclusion in the workplace and in healthcare. We delve in to what it’s like for LGBTQ+ people to live in a hetero-normative world and how they handle all the prejudices in families, communities, companies, and the healthcare system.
LGBTQ+ people have their own health disparities. It’s time to start learning about them and how healthcare professionals can provide patient-centered care without stigmatization, discrimination, or demoralization.
Discrimination in health care settings endangers LGBTQ+ people’s lives. This is why LGBTQ+ education and affirming LGBTQ+ people and their needs is key to building inclusion.
TOPICS WE DISCUSSED INCLUDE:
- LGBTQ+ have their own disparities (4:29)
- 28% of trans-people are rejected by healthcare professionals (5:33)
- LGBTQ+ community being afraid of discrimination (9:02)
- Legalization of same-sex marriage (9:40)
- Healthcare professionals give so much of themselves to their patients (10:45)
- Doing things that fill you up (11:50)
- Importance of quality sleep (12:00)
- It’s okay to do nothing (13:10)
- Celebrate you (15:40)
- Importance of self-care for healthcare providers (21:20)
- Being in a constant state of learning (26:00)
- Never stop learning (27:07)
- Big, audacious goal (28:40)
- Nurses’ mental health is suffering (30:00)
- Being client and patient-centered (32:14)
- Nurses are burning out (33:05)
- It is normal to be scared of the unknown (35:52)
- The importance of hydration (37:10)
- Non-binary people (39:00)
- Pronouns are so important (39:40)
- Caring for the LGBTQ+ community (41:52)
- Normalizing pronouns (40:19)
- No right or wrong answer when choosing your pronouns (42:59)
CONNECT WITH SHANNON WHITTINGTON
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CONNECT WITH ELAINA MULLERY
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