Abstract
Learning from transgender youth and mental health care providers to design an effective mHealth training program
APHA 2022 Annual Meeting and Expo
Transgender youth face higher risks for serious mental health problems than cisgender youth and have more exposure to stress (e.g., bullying, discrimination, parental rejection). However, most mental health clinicians are not adequately trained to provide effective care to transgender patients. Over the past year, we met virtually with community advisory boards of transgender patients, trained clinicians, and untrained clinicians to design a scalable mHealth training on trans-inclusive care.
In the course of this process, we identified three unexpected problems for researchers working at the intersection of public health, social work, and technology: 1) Bad actors will attempt to disrupt social justice work via online harassment; 2) Participants who self-select to work with us already have an unusually strong (and non-representative) understanding of the subject matter; 3) Educational trainings are seen as boring at best or painful at worst. Subsequently, we have identified several lessons: 1) Implement simple, short security checks to identify and exclude those who enter our meetings with malicious intent; 2) Use neutral, general descriptions of the research aims to welcome a variety of clinicians, not only those who are positive deviants; 3) Focus educational trainings on compassion, community, and curious self-reflection to inspire the most behavioral change.
In summary, community advisory boards are essential tools for building desirable trainings; virtual meetings are accessible and effective when security measures are set up; and educational trainings can instigate deep change and maintain a positive mindset.