#57 - NOURISH YOUR FLOURISH NUGGET | PRIDE & Prejudice (Rosé)

The Women's Health, Wisdom, and... WINE! podcast is a weekly conversation with practitioners, providers, patients & healers about complex reproductive medicine & women's health challenges, the value of an integrative approach to these challenges, many of the women's health topics you're already thinking about & uncomfortable talking about & my personal favorite... WINE!

Welcoming providers are essential for LGBTQ+ health. Everyone, no matter what community they’re from, deserves to have access to all of the same services. At The Eudaimonia Center, our goal is that ALL of our clientele feels confident that they're receiving quality transformative and restorative care. As with all our patients, we tailor to the individual patient, based on family history, age, and other individual risks.

6 Healthcare Tips for LGBTQ+ People

1. Get care sooner rather than later.
   Whether it's for a mental or physical health issue, many of us and especially trans, nonbinary, and gender-nonconforming individuals delay health care, and that can really further complicate things, especially in the realm of mental health. It's important to try to find the time to prioritize mental and physical health so that you're able to achieve other goals that you have in life.
2. Use the TransFriendly Business Directory to find providers.
   TransFriendly is an established, not-for-profit and apolitical directory of trans and non-binary inclusive business with an established presence in five countries and with almost 2,000 listed businesses, led entirely by transgender and non-binary people. It campaigns and works exclusively for trans inclusion and safety in businesses that can provide services which better their lives and enable their transitions.
3. Prioritize your mental and physical health care.
   A provider should not focus only on the physical. The care doesn't have to be delivered under the same roof, so there should be coordination between mental health and physical health services. If that's not happening, find a practice that looks at these things in totality.
4.  Take the time to vet providers.
   Developing relationships with providers who respect you and with whom you feel comfortable is key for everyone. Take the time to vet them to make sure you’re receiving competent care so you know your provider is really well-versed in how to best provide for your specific needs.
5. Don’t accept unwelcoming health care environments.
   When patients first walk in the door, they should ask themselves, ‘Is this a welcoming environment where I can be frank about my history, to ensure my care is tailored specifically to me as an individual?’  If you’re not feeling welcome and comfortable sitting in the waiting room, it just sets off a bad vibe that works against what you're essentially trying to accomplish. Everything from the physical environment, the ancillary staff, the front desk person, to the medical assistant needs to be on the same page. 
6. Listen to your body’s signals.
   Depending on the extent of gender dysphoria, trans men and women sometimes disassociate from their body to some degree, because they find it painful to experience their body as it is, especially if they haven’t accessed gender-affirming medical interventions. That can lead people to ignore signals from their body that something is wrong. So, to the extent that it's possible, try to navigate ways to really connect with your body so you're able to take input from it and have a better understanding of how you're doing with respect to mental and physical health.

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