The knowledge and attitudes of experts in treatment of transsexual individuals

U Hrvatskoj se javlja problem neadekvatnog pružanja pomoći transseksualnim osobama jer dijagnoza i tretman ovise o stavovima liječnika i ostalih stručnjaka kojima se osoba obrati za pomoć. Stoga je potrebno saznati nešto više o stavovima stručnjaka prema ovoj skupini ljudi te o tome na koji način postupaju, odnosno što misle kako bi trebalo postupati u radu s njima. Cilj istraživanja bio je ispitati znanje i stavove stručnjaka koji bi trebali biti uključeni u tretman transseksualnih osoba (liječnika obiteljske medicine, endokrinologa, kirurga, psihijatara, psihologa). Istraživanje je provedeno primjenom dubinskih intervjua s po tri pripadnika pojedinog zanimanja. Teme intervjua bile su dosadašnje iskustvo u radu s transseksualnim osobama, etiologija transseksualnosti te ishodi liječenja i vrsta liječenja koju smatraju nužnom. Također, stručnjaci su upitani koje korake bi sami poduzeli kada bi im se za pomoć obratila transseksualna osoba i kako vide rješenje problema administrativne promjene spola. Dobiveni rezultati ukazuju na nedostatak znanja i formalne edukacije u ovom području među većinom stručnjaka kao i na općenito slabu zastupljenost teme u stručnim okupljanjima. Također, iako stručnjaci uglavnom priznaju međusobni rad i potrebu različitih struka u tretmanu, možemo zaključiti kako postoji potreba za specijaliziranim timovima za tretman ovog poremećaja jer se čak i među stručnjacima vidi da se na transseksualnost u određenoj mjeri gleda kao na dominantno psihički poremećaj i da bi ishodi liječenja trebali biti usmjereni na psihološku komponentu.The Croatian health system faces the problem of inadequate support for transsexual individuals, due to the fact that the diagnosis and treatment depend on the attitudes of the experts the individual reaches out to. It is necessary to gain more insight into the attitudes of professionals towards this group of people, as well as their opinions on how transsexual individuals should be treated. The aim of this study was to examine the attitudes of experts who are involved in the treatment of transsexual individuals (general practitioners, endocrinologists, surgeons, psychiatrists, psychologists). In-depth interviews were conducted with three experts of each profession. The subjects of the interviews were their work experience with transsexual individuals thus far, the aetiology of transsexuality, the type of treatment they considered necessary, as well as expected outcomes of treatment. Additionally, the experts were asked how they would proceed if a transsexual individual reached out to them for help, as well as what they think is a fitting solution to the administrative problem of sex reassignment. The results of this study indicate a lack of knowledge and formal education in this field amongst experts, as well as to an overall poor representation of this topic at professional gatherings. Moreover, although experts usually agree on the necessity of different professions in the treatment of transsexual individuals, it can be concluded that there is need for specialised teams for treatment of this disorder. This study has shown that even experts consider transsexuality a dominantly mental disorder and that treatment should be focused on the psychological component