Equitable pandemic communication strategies to support sexual and gender minority transplant patients

Canadians who identify as sexual and/or gender minorities (SGM), which includes those that identify as gay, lesbian, bi-sexual, queer, questioning, transgender, and gender-diverse, experience systemic barriers to health care and poorer health outcomes. As one example of the inequities SGM individuals experience, the impacts of COVID-19 on physical and mental health have been greater for the SGM community compared to the general population. Given that the impacts of the pandemic also have been severe for immunocompromised patients, it is likely that immunocompromised SGM patients have been severely and uniquely affected. Immunocompromised patients have an urgent need for accurate and up-to-date information during a pandemic. Transplant patients have expressed that information provided by governments, public health authorities, transplant centres, and health professionals can be difficult to find, fragmented, inconsistent, and conflicting. For immunocompromised SGM patients, inadequate communication of health information may represent a double dose of stress, anxiety, and stigmatization within their communities, and directly contribute to poorer health outcomes. We will conduct a series of activities that will inform our team's research planning and build the needed partnerships to address health inequities among SGM transplant recipients: (1) a pan-Canadian environmental scan of transplant programs to determine how they collect and use SGM sociodemographic data; (2) explore the perspectives of Canadian SGM transplant patients on their interactions with their transplant centre and the health information they receive; (3) build partnerships with community groups focused on SGM health. This work will lay the groundwork to plan the research needed for improved alignment between SGM transplant patient needs and transplant program practices, ultimately enabling transplant health care providers to more effectively serve their SGM patients.