Pharmacy Daily | Gender sensitive training

A NEW training program is aiming to restore the balance after research revealed that transgender and gender diverse (TGD) people experience unequal treatment in some pharmacy settings.

James Cook University has designed a training program to address the knowledge gap and help equip pharmacists with tools to communicate with TGD customers in non-judgemental and inclusive ways.

PhD candidate Swapna Chaudhary, supervised by Prof Beverley Glass and A/Prof Robin Ray, considered the experience of pharmacists specifically trained in dealing with TGD clients.

She said it's estimated that between 0.1% and 2% of the global population identifies as TGD.

"Challenges faced by TGD people in healthcare settings, including community pharmacy, are widely recognised.

"Even though pharmacies provide various pharmaceutical services to TGD people, many report encountering several obstacles to receiving competent care," explained Chaudhary.

The university's research findings confirmed that pharmacists' awareness and knowledge about TGD healthcare significantly improved after completing the training program.

"After three months the impact of training on pharmacists' practice was examined and most found the training program valuable and relevant, with noticeable changes in their knowledge levels and attitude," commented Chaudhary.

"Interestingly, the most noticeable change in the attitudes reported by pharmacists was their perspective of how they view not only TGD people, but everyone.

"This training program enabled pharmacists to be introspective and observe their own attitudes, behaviours, and practices."

However, she said that the skills learned are perishable.

"Providing training at regular intervals, summary communications, and printed materials, including new updates in gender-affirming therapies, may be necessary for pharmacists to retain the knowledge and skills learned." JG