Evidence of meeting #137 for Health in the 42nd Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was trans.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Conservative
Len Webber Conservative Calgary Confederation, AB
Ms. Bloch, you talked about education in the school system. Is there anything going on right now with regard to having it in the curriculum? Is that happening anywhere in the country that you know of? Is there any education in that manner?
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Bill Casey
You're way over, but it's my fault as I wasn't paying attention.
The answers are interesting.
Now we're going to Ms. Sidhu.
You have five minutes.
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Thank you, all, for being here.
You mentioned lack of training. What kinds of steps are needed for the first-line health workers who need to be trained?
I'm a representative of the Peel area. I would like to point out a new initiative called Rainbow Salad. It's an online portal that was formed by nine district health care organizations to provide support to the LGBTQ2 to raise awareness, to educate front-liners. Do you think this kind of idea is good for them?
Director, Rainbow Health Ontario
Absolutely.
I think what you need to know is how people develop skills. Sometimes we think about training as coming into a workshop but sometimes that doesn't actually translate to the application of knowledge. We think about how we need to support people over time to develop and apply skills. Part of what we do at Rainbow Health Ontario specifically around trans health is we offer a series of training, two of which are accredited for continuing medical education credits. We don't just do those trainings. We also offer weekly mentorship calls. People such as physicians, nurse practitioners and the like can call in and get support around particular questions they have.
We want to take things further, because it's about engagement over time that will really help people develop the clinical skills that they need in order to be able to do this work properly.
February 28th, 2019 / 4:55 p.m.
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
There's the technology area.
Ms. Ross, can you elaborate on that? The suicide rate is very high in the young population. Do you think an app can be helpful to educate those youth?
Associate Professor, Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto
I imagine there's probably room for intervention with youth in terms of providing resources and information around suicide prevention. I'm not aware of any that currently exist that are LGBTQ2-specific.
I think we need to look carefully at directing interventions beyond the individual youth. Youth are experiencing high rates of suicidal ideation largely because of a lack of supportive environments, whether it be family, school or so on. It's important to have interventions for youth for suicide prevention, but we also need interventions, for example, to make school settings safe for youth and to provide support and information to families so they can support their kids as well.
I think we need a multipronged approach in that regard.
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
Thank you.
Being a mother, can you tell us how we can educate the parents so they can be incorporated into the other parents population?
Board Member, Toronto Pflag
I think talking about it and being open. The way that I have with my own children is I talk about them and talk about their experiences and my experience as a parent. Only one small thing has changed; otherwise, they're the same people who they were before I found out.
I think when people don't understand something they are afraid of it. It's really just education.
Liberal
Sonia Sidhu Liberal Brampton South, ON
Did you find there was any difference in ethnic populations? Was there a different approach?
Board Member, Toronto Pflag
Yes, in some there was. I don't want to generalize or stereotype, but yes, we do find that in some certain groups the biggest concern is, “What are the people in my community going to think?”
Once we get down to that, because usually they don't tell us that right at the beginning, it's easier to break it down for them and to help them through that and then to be able to tell people in their community, and chances are there will be many other people in their community experiencing the same things. Someone has to be the first one to say, “My kid is gay”, or whatever it is. It's amazing how many other people will be saying the same thing to them.
Director, Rainbow Health Ontario
Through Rainbow Health Ontario, we did a province-wide needs assessment about supporting gender-independent kids and their families. Part of what we did was to reach out to particular ethnocultural communities and make sure that we're really spanning the diversity of our communities.
Part of what we heard is that there's sometimes a need for ethnocultural-specific support, which often requires some type of funding or some type of resourcing. People may or may not have all the time that's necessary to volunteer, but some type of ethnocultural-specific supports would make a world of difference.
Liberal
Conservative
Ben Lobb Conservative Huron—Bruce, ON
Thanks, Mr. Chair.
The first question I have is in regard to the study itself. Obviously some of the topics that have been touched on today are provincial in nature, and I think you would all agree with that.
What advice would you give this committee or the Minister of Health, the Prime Minister or whoever? If we're trying to improve the health outcomes physically, mentally and so on, what is the role for this government or the next government's minister of health to do this?
I don't know if you have the answer today or if there is an answer, but what should we put in bold type, so to speak, on this report or study?
Director of Research and Policy, Egale Canada Human Rights Trust
One of our recommendations is on the accessible Canada act, Bill C-81, just to make sure that it incorporates measures to address barriers that disproportionately impact members of the community. That comes with the requirement that health care colleges have frameworks in place to protect LGBTQI2S service users, as well as mandatory competency training, which my colleagues have talked about. That's potentially one role.
Did you want to add to that?
Director, Rainbow Health Ontario
Another piece of my understanding is there are sometimes federal, provincial and territorial committees struck. This might be something worth exploring there, but in that case I'd be sure to include folks who are active in LGBT communities in a range of ways in that, or in consultation with that, just because if there are folks around the table making the planning decisions who don't have the nuance of the experience, it might not have the desired outcomes. I would just suggest—
Conservative
Ben Lobb Conservative Huron—Bruce, ON
Well, you're talking about government. I don't know if it will ever do that.
Director, Rainbow Health Ontario
It may be worth trying something different, where you're having other stakeholders there in a way that works for the structure at the table as well.