Special Issue on Telehealth for Gender-Affirming Care
Guest Editor:
Nadia Dowshen, MD, MSHP
Director of Adolescent HIV Services
Co-Director, Gender and Sexuality Development Clinic
PolicyLab, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
Associate Professor of Pediatrics
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Submission Deadline: October 31, 2020.
Transgender Health is developing a special issue dedicated to the use of telehealth in the context of gender-affirming care. For the purposes of this issue, “telehealth” is defined broadly as the provision of healthcare remotely by means of telecommunications technology. This includes, but is not limited to, implementation of telehealth in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.
We are seeking high-quality original empirical articles, brief research reports, review articles, commentaries, and policy briefs on the following topics (though other topics will be considered):
- Articles that center telehealth experiences of transgender and gender diverse individuals with other marginalized and minoritized identities including youth, individuals with ASD, individuals living with or placed at-risk for HIV infection, Black and Indigenous people of color (BIPOC), particularly transgender women of color (TWOC) and discuss the impact of racism and other structural inequalities
- Telehealth for medical and mental health care for transgender and gender-diverse individuals
- Articles that describe experiences of telehealth for gender-affirming care (GAC) across the globe with special interest in low and middle income countries (LMIC)
- Patient, caregiver, and provider interest in and satisfaction with telehealth for GAC
- Impact of telehealth on biomedical and psychosocial outcomes for transgender and gender diverse individuals
- Studies addressing whether telehealth may improve access to gender-affirming care or further exacerbate existing inequalities in access to care
- Studies to establish safety, feasibility, and efficacy of initiating puberty blockers and hormones without prior physical exam
- Discussion of policy and practical challenges to sustainability of telehealth, including cross-state licensure, reimbursement by insurance companies and parity with in-person visits, restrictions on prescriptions of controlled substances without intervening physical exam, and privacy and confidentiality
- Clinical vignettes that highlight strengths and challenges of telehealth in the context of GAC
All manuscripts should be submitted online using ScholarOne Manuscripts by October 31, 2020. All submissions will be subject to a rigorous peer review. We encourage submissions of original research articles, reviews, perspectives, and clinical vignettes.
Visit Transgender Health to learn more and view author submission guidelines.
Queries to the editor to propose a topic prior to submission are encouraged.
Please contact Dr. Nadia Dowshen to initiate your query or for any further details.