Document Type
Article
Publication Date
8-15-2022
Abstract
Background: While societal acceptance for sexual and gender minority (SGM) individuals is increasing, this group continues to face barriers to quality healthcare. Little is known about clinicians' experiences with SGM patients in the oncology setting. To address this, a mixed method survey was administered to members of the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group.
Materials and methods: We report results from the open-ended portion of the survey. Four questions asked clinicians to describe experiences with SGM patients, reservations in caring for them, suggestions for improvement in SGM cancer care, and additional comments. Data were analyzed using content analysis and the constant comparison method.
Results: The majority of respondents noted they had no or little familiarity with SGM patients. A minority of respondents noted experience with gay and lesbian patients, but not transgender patients; many who reported experience with transgender patients also noted difficulty navigating the correct use of pronouns. Many respondents also highlighted positive experiences with SGM patients. Suggestions for improvement in SGM cancer care included providing widespread training, attending to unique end-of-life care issues among SGM patients, and engaging in efforts to build trust.
Conclusion: Clinicians have minimal experiences with SGM patients with cancer but desire training. Training the entire workforce may improve trust with, outreach efforts to, and cancer care delivery to the SGM community.
Recommended Citation
Tamargo, Christina L; Mitchell, Edith P; Wagner, Lynne; Simon, Melissa A; Carlos, Ruth C; Giantonio, Bruce J; Schabath, Matthew B; and Quinn, Gwendolyn P, ""I need more knowledge": Qualitative Analysis of Oncology Providers' Experiences with Sexual and Gender Minority Patients" (2022). Department of Medical Oncology Faculty Papers. Paper 203.
https://jdc.jefferson.edu/medoncfp/203
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
PubMed ID
36046410
Language
English
Comments
This article is the author's published version in Frontiers in Psychology, Volume 13, August 2022, Article number 763348.
The published version is available at https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.763348.
Copyright © 2022 Tamargo, Mitchell, Wagner, Simon, Carlos, Giantonio, Schabath and Quinn.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.