Protect virtual gender affirming care in Ontario

Protect virtual gender affirming care in Ontario

Started
October 27, 2022
Signatures: 25,577Next Goal: 35,000
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Why this petition matters

The Problem: Changes to Virtual Health Care Beginning December 1, 2022

Connect-Clinic has been providing gender affirming care to Ontarians by virtual means since 2019. We currently have 1,500 registered patients with close to 2,000 prospective patients on the waitlist. The changes to the Physicians Services Agreement by the Ministry of Health make it impossible for us to see new patients as of December 1, 2022.

The Impact: Barriers to Life Affirming Care

Virtual gender affirming care is lifesaving. Trans and gender diverse people have been shown to have very high rates of depression and suicidality; the Trans Pulse study in Ontario found that two thirds of trans respondents had contemplated suicide (1). Gender affirming interventions such as hormone therapy have been shown to decrease depression and suicidality (2). This marginalized population’s increased rates of mental health challenges related to transphobia and discrimination (3,4) contribute to difficulty accessing in-person care – virtual access to care is a much safer and accessible option. Virtual care for trans and gender diverse people has increased health care access and equity across the province (5). Virtual care is a preferred method to access care for trans and gender diverse people since it is a safe way to connect with a culturally-competent physician (5).

What can you do? Sign and share our petition!

Please join our petition to present to the Ministry of Health – help us protect access to virtual gender affirming care across Ontario!

References

(1) Scanlon, K., Travers, R., & Coleman, T. Ontario’s trans communities and suicide: transphobia is bad for our health. TransPULSE. 2010. https://transpulseproject.ca/research/ontarios-trans-communities-and-suicide/

(2) Allen, L. R., Watson, L. B., Egan, A. M., & Moser, C. N. (2019). Well-being and suicidality among transgender youth after gender-affirming hormones. Clinical Practice in Pediatric Psychology, 7(3), 302–311. https://doi.org/10.1037/cpp0000288

(3) Rotondi Khobzi N, Bauer GR, Scanlon K, Kaay M, Travers R, Travers A. Prevalence of and risk and protective factors for depression in female-to-male transgender Ontarians: Trans PULSE Project. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health 2011;30(2):135-155. https://transpulseproject.ca/research/prevalence-of-and-risk-and-protective-factors-for-depression-in-female-to-male-transgender-ontarians-trans-pulse-project/

(4) Rotondi Khobzi N, Bauer GR, Travers R, Travers A, Scanlon K, Kaay M. Depression in male-to-female transgender Ontarians: Results from the Trans PULSE Project. Canadian Journal of Community Mental Health 2011;30(2):113-133. https://transpulseproject.ca/research/depression-in-male-to-female-transgender-ontarians-results-from-the-trans-pulse-project/

(5) College of Physicians and Surgeons. Building Capacity For Gender Affirming Care. Dialogue, June 23, 2022. https://dialogue.cpso.on.ca/2022/06/building-capacity-for-gender-affirming-care/

Photo by Cecilie Johnsen on Unsplash: https://unsplash.com/@ctj

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Signatures: 25,577Next Goal: 35,000
Support now
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