Unique Considerations When Caring for LGBTQ+ Adolescents via Telehealth

Pediatrician Tonya Chaffee, MD, MPH, FAAP and child and adolescent psychiatrist Christopher Bellonci, MD, FAACAP discuss unique considerations for providing care to LGBTQ+ adolescents via telehealth. Presenters walk through a case example and discuss specific strategies that pediatric clinicians can use to prepare their practice, preserve confidentiality and create a welcoming and affirming virtual environment for LGBTQ+ adolescent patients.

For More Information

• AAP Resource: A Pediatrician’s Guide to an LGBTQ+ Friendly Practice
• AAP Resource: Mental Health Initiatives
• AAP Resource: Telehealth
• AAP Resource: Promoting Telehealth Toolkit
• AAP Policy Statement: Office-Based Care for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Youth
• AAP Policy Statement: Ensuring Comprehensive Care and Support for Transgender and Gender-Diverse Children and Adolescents
• AAP Policy Statement: Unique Needs of the Adolescent
• Center for Adolescent Health & the Law
• Gender Spectrum
• Guttmacher Institute
• Human Rights Campaign
• National LGBT Health Education Center – Learning to Address Implicit Bias Towards LGBTQ Patients: Case Scenarios
• Project Implicit – Implicit Association Test from Harvard University
• Telehealth State Laws – Interactive Map
• The Trevor Project

Resources for Families

• Family Acceptance Project has pamphlets, videos, posters, and publications that can help clinicians have conversations with families/caregivers around challenges and on how to adopt accepting and affirming behaviors for the benefit of their child or adolescent.
• Freedhearts.org has online discussion and support groups for religious families coming to terms with their child’s gender identity and/or sexual orientation.
• gaychurch.org keeps a database of affirming Christian churches that can be searched by zip code.
• TransFamily Support Services guides transgender/non-binary youth and their families through the gender affirming process to help make it the most positive experience possible. They provide family coaching, assistance with healthcare and insurance issues, help navigating the legal system and support at school. All services are provided at no fee.