Date Presented Accepted for AOTA INSPIRE 2021 but unable to be presented due to online event limitations.
A correlational study determined if personal contact with transgender individuals and amount of transgender-specific education are correlated with OT students' and practitioners' attitudes and knowledge of transgender communities. Results indicate that contact and hours of education have a significant association with knowledge. Research into factors that relate to preparedness in working with transgender clients is a step toward addressing transgender health disparities.
Primary Author and Speaker: Yan-hua Huang
Additional Authors and Speakers: Nicole Villaescusa, Kendira Villalobos, and Laura Yamaguchi
The purpose of this paper is to determine if personal contact with transgender individuals and amount of transgender-specific education are correlated with occupational therapy students' and practitioners' attitudes and knowledge of transgender communities.
METHOD: A correlational survey study using convenience and snowball sampling methods was utilized to explore the relationships among factors. One hundred occupational therapy students and practitioners completed an online survey that included the The Transgender Attitude and Beliefs Scale (TABS), demographic information, and an eighteen item survey developed by researchers aimed to assess contact with transgender individuals, number of hours of transgender specific training and education, and self-reported knowledge and competence.
RESULTS: There was a moderate, positive correlation between contact and and knowledge (r = .43, p < .001) and a moderate, positive correlation between hours of education and knowledge (r = .37, p < .001). Spearman's rho correlation did not find a statistically significant correlation between contact and attitudes (r = .18, p = .088), or between hours of education and attitude (r = .14, p = .178).
DISCUSSION: Results indicate that contact and hours of education have a statistically significant relationship with knowledge of transgender communities, with contact having the most significant relationship of all hypothesized factors. However, no factors were found to have a statistically significant relationship with attitudes. Having more transgender-specific training and more interpersonal relationships with transgender individuals may be an important factor in occupational therapy practitioners feeling knowledgeable about this community.
CONCLUSION: Research into the factors that may relate to occupational therapy students' and practitioners' preparedness in working with transgender individuals is a step towards addressing the health disparities experienced by transgender communities. This is the first study within the field of occupational therapy to provide quantitative evidence demonstrating that transgender-specific content in training and interpersonal relationships with transgender individuals relate to occupational therapy practitioners feeling more knowledgeable and competent when working with transgender clients.
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