Transgender Services Program Evaluation

Access to hormone treatment is imperative to improving mental health outcomes for transgender individuals. Furthermore, providing transgender-specific healthcare services helps increase access to healthcare for a population that often faces discrimination in healthcare settings and is less likely to access healthcare services in general. Since its inception one year ago, Virginia League for Planned Parenthood’s Transgender Services Program has provided needed hormone therapy services to 490 transgender patients in Virginia. A program evaluation was conducted in order to determine patient and staff satisfaction, effectiveness of recruitment strategies, access to care, staff preparedness and effectiveness of programmatic systems. Patient and staff surveys were disseminated and 103 patients and 18 staff members completed the survey. 96% of patients and 83% of staff members indicated satisfaction with the program. 73% of patients accessed hormone therapy services for the first time through Virginia League for Planned Parenthood’s Transgender Services Program, and 27% of patients have accessed other forms of healthcare at Planned Parenthood. However, just 72% of clinic staff members are confident in their ability to serve members of the transgender community, and 64% of staff members say that the documentation systems they use to record patient data could be improved. Program recommendations include providing cultural competency training for all new staff members, providing1 an overview of Planned Parenthood’s healthcare services in every Transgender Services intake appointment and conducting further research to determine specific changes that can be made to improve Transgender Services Program documentation systems.Master of Public Healt