Improving the Wellness of Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex Individuals
Wednesday, August 27, 2014
3:00 p.m.–4:30 p.m. EDT
(2 p.m. CDT; Noon PDT) Register Now!
Please note: Registration will remain open up until the event.
Overview
The wellness of all peers is critically important, but some groups are particularly at risk for adverse outcomes. Transgender, gender non-conforming, and intersex (TQI) individuals have high rates of substance use, depression, suicidal ideation, and homelessness. Past and ongoing trauma and discrimination can often cause and exacerbate these problems.
According to a February 2011 report by the National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, 41 percent of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals have attempted suicide (compared to 1.6 percent of the general population), 11 percent were denied equal treatment in mental health clinics, and 26 percent reported currently using or having used alcohol or drugs in the past to cope with gender-based discrimination. Nineteen percent have experienced homelessness due to their gender identity and 55 percent of those seeking shelter were harassed by staff or residents. Twenty-nine percent were turned away and 22 percent were sexually assaulted by staff or residents.1
There is an urgent need to create environments that enhance the wellness of TQI peers and persons in recovery. Transgender peer and community leaders Iden Campbell McCollum and Earline Budd will provide a frank learning and discussion opportunity around this often shunned topic. They will encourage attendees to recognize the unique needs and experiences of TQI peers and persons in recovery and learn how they add value to the collective peer experience.
As transgender advocates, Iden and Earline will highlight common issues that many cisgender individuals (individuals who identify with their assigned gender at birth) may overlook. Unique mental health, wellness, and social inclusion issues among the TQI community include access to proper health care, legal needs, and lack of support or a sense of belonging as valued members of our diverse community of peers and persons in recovery.
Attendees will learn about culturally competent practices and language use to foster wellness, sample questions to help cisgender peers understand and provide support to TQI peers, health care standards, and health care statistics.
1Grant, J. M., Mottet, L. A., Tanis, J., Harrison, J., Herman, J. L., & Keisling, M. (2011). Injustice at every turn: A report of the National Transgender Discrimination Survey. Washington: National Center for Transgender Equality and National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. Retrieved fromhttp://www.transequality.org/Resources/ntds_full.pdf
Learning Objectives:
- Learn the social context in which the TQI community and peers face discrimination, health care disparities, and lack of access to mental and physical health services.
- Understand the unique needs and experiences facing peers in the TQI community and the African-American TQI community.
- Review best practices for supporting TQI peers’ wellness and their place as valued members of our diverse peer community.
This webinar also will provide an overview of SAMHSA’s Wellness Initiative, the Eight Dimensions of Wellness, and the upcoming National Wellness Week 2014.
Target Audience:
- Peers and persons in recovery, current and past recipients of mental health and substance abuse services, family members, and mental health and substance abuse organizations;
- LGBT organizations;
- State, county, peer-run, community, and provider organizations;
- Behavioral health care and primary care providers; and
- Peer specialists.
Speaker Biographies:
Iden Campbell McCollum, CPS, a transgender man, is the founder and executive director of The Campbell Center, a peer-run resource center in Washington, DC. He has chaired the DC Protection and Advocacy for Individuals with Mental Illness (PAIMI) Advisory Council and the DC State Vocational Rehabilitation Commission, and been a board member of the DC State Independent Living Council. Washington, DC’s Office of Human Rights featured Iden in a fall and winter 2012 anti-discrimination campaign advocating for respect of transgender and gender non-conforming individuals.
Earline Budd, a transgender woman, is one of the founders and former executive director of Transgender Health Empowerment, Inc., and has more than 20 years of expertise working with cultural competency issues, HIV/AIDS, and special populations. Currently, Earline serves transgender or gay/bisexual male clients as a treatment adherence specialist at HIPS in Washington, DC. She is also starting a new nonprofit organization, Empowering Transgender Coalition (ETC). Earline is one of the first transgender women to serve on Washington, DC’s Office of Human Rights’ Commission on Human Rights. She also serves on the DC Mayor’s Commission on HIV/AIDS and the Ryan White Planning Council. The National Institute of Corrections recently selected Earline to help develop a national white paper about policies for working with LBGT, HIV-positive inmates.
http://www.esi-bethesda.com/wellnessteleconference/