New survey reveals crucial role of family support in transgender health and wellbeing
Keep up with the latest in + news and politics.
Released Wednesday by the Advocates for Trans Equality Education Fund, the report draws on responses from more than 84,000 trans adults nationwide and presents a complex but cautiously hopeful portrait of health and access to care. It finds that transgender people are significantly more likely to report good health when they have supportive families and the ability to live in alignment with their gender identity. Those who experienced family rejection, by contrast, reported far higher rates of suicidal ideation and attempts.
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'This report tells us that, for the most part, trans people are happy, healthy, and getting the care they need, especially when they can live out their lives freely,' said Ankit Rastogi, A4TE's director of research. 'Attacks aimed at removing trans people from public life and limiting trans people's access to health care threaten to halt this progress.'
The report, 'Health and Wellbeing: Findings from the 2022 U.S. Trans Survey,' is the third installment of a series analyzing data from the 2022 U.S. Transgender Survey. It provides one of the most detailed statistical insights into transgender people's lives in the United States at a moment when health care access for the community is increasingly politicized.
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Compared to the 2015 version of the survey, the new data suggest improved experiences in clinical settings. Trust in providers appears to be increasing: 50 percent of respondents in 2022 said all of their health care providers knew they were transgender, up from 40 percent in 2015. Nearly three in four respondents—73 percent—who disclosed their transgender status to a provider said they were treated with respect by at least one provider, an increase from 62 percent in the previous survey.
Still, structural barriers remain. Although 88 percent of respondents said they wanted gender-affirming hormone therapy, only 56 percent reported receiving it. Other access measures showed progress: 57 percent reported having a dedicated provider for transition-related care, up from 44 percent in 2015. Denial rates for gender-confirmation surgeries fell sharply, from 55 percent in 2015 to 20 percent in 2022.
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Despite these gains, health disparities between trans adults and the general U.S. population remain pronounced. Just 66 percent of trans respondents rated their health as 'excellent,' 'very good,' or 'good,' compared to 81 percent of the general population. Insurance coverage was also lower among trans adults—87 percent versus 92 percent—and younger respondents reported worse health than older ones. While 78 percent of trans adults age 65 and older said their health was good or better, only 60 percent of those ages 18 to 24 said the same.
'Good health is the foundation that allows everyone to thrive,' said Andy Marra, CEO of A4TE. 'It is unconscionable that access to health care is now on the chopping block for millions of vulnerable Americans, including tens of thousands of trans people.'
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Yahoo
16-07-2025
- Yahoo
Donald Trump's election triggered transgender people to contemplate DIY hormones & suicide: study
Even before executive orders were signed in January or court decisions handed down, fear was already surging through transgender communities across the United States. A new study from the University of Vermont, appearing in JAMA Network Open, captures that fear in stark detail. Titled 'Access to Gender-Affirming Care and Alternatives to That Care Among Transgender Adults,' the research found that every single one of 489 transgender, nonbinary, and intersex respondents believed they could lose access to gender-affirming medical care under the shifting political climate. Keep up with the latest in + news and politics. 'This is a population that already feels that their access to care is constantly under threat,' said Teresa Graziano, the study's lead author, who uses they/them pronouns. 'It was startling.' Related: What does Donald Trump's 'shocking and devastating' victory and a second term mean for the LGBTQ+ community? The survey, conducted between the 2024 election and Inauguration Day 2025, revealed a level of distress that transcended fear and entered the realm of survival. More than 21 percent of participants reported that they would feel suicidal if their access to care were cut off. Graziano said one participant explicitly told them, 'killing myself is easier than living without my hormones and my gender affirming care.' Particularly alarming to Graziano was how many respondents described preparing for life without medical support. Nearly a third said they would turn to black-market hormones or attempt to synthesize hormones at home if care were banned. 'My concern as a health care provider is that they do not necessarily know that they are receiving sterile products or the products that they think they're receiving,' Graziano said. 'They may not be using doses that are safe or appropriate for them because it may not translate one-to-one with what they've been using in the past.' 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A spokesperson for Advocates for Trans Equality told The Advocate, 'This new study echoes what we found in our 2022 U.S. Trans Survey health report that we released last month, which captures the experiences of 84,170 trans adults across the country, and what millions across our country who are losing access to their health care thanks to Trump's budget reconciliation bill are saying: Trump's policies have consequences—all of us are less healthy and less safe, and many trans people will die without the transition-related care they need.' For Rep. Becca Balint, Vermont's first out lesbian member of Congress, the study's findings reflect conversations happening at home. 'It mirrors what I am hearing directly from trans, nonbinary, gender nonconforming folks, intersex people in Vermont and their families,' Balint said in an interview with The Advocate. 'This level of anxiety about not being able to get the care that they need and that they deserve and that will keep them alive is something that I'm hearing from a lot of my constituents.' Related: Supreme Court rules states can ban gender-affirming care for youth in U.S. v. Skrmetti 'In the last few months, when I am back in Vermont and I am at an event, inevitably, either someone who identifies as trans or nonbinary or their family will come up to me and they will tell me just how scared they are that they're not going to be able to get health care,' she said. 'And more broadly, just deep despondency that their own government is coming after them.' While Balint called it 'of course, a shocking statistic that over 20 percent would consider taking their own lives,' she said the finding was, tragically, not surprising. 'They have been told now for two and a half years in earnest by the Republican party and by Trump that they don't matter,' she said. 'That they don't care about the lives of these people, that they will say anything and do anything, and they will scapegoat them.' Balint said many constituents have expressed what it feels like 'to have your government weaponized against you,' and warned that political rhetoric has real consequences for mental health and safety. 'When they don't see us as elected officials standing with their civil rights, standing with their right to the health care that they need and deserve, of course, it looks bleak,' she said. Related: LGBTQ+ mental health crisis center says calls have surged with Donald Trump's inauguration She sees a strong connection between today's threats to transgender people's access to health care and the fight for reproductive freedom. 'I link those all the time, especially for constituents who might have a hard time understanding the lives of trans people because they don't necessarily have somebody in their family or within their close social circle,' Balint said. 'I always say it's the same thing: you're talking about people having control over their own bodies.' Balint emphasized that cutting off access to care won't make transgender people disappear; it simply pushes them into unsafe, underground options. She said, 'transgender people have always existed and always will, as part of humanity itself.' People, she noted, will go to great lengths to obtain the care they need, even if that means risking black-market treatments. Instead of forcing people into such dangerous paths, Balint urged, 'We need to stop demonizing this population who is just trying to live their lives.' If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit for 24/7 access to free and confidential services. Trans Lifeline, designed for transgender or gender-nonconforming people, can be reached at (877) 565-8860. The lifeline also provides resources to help with other crises, such as domestic violence situations. The Trevor Project Lifeline, for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger), can be reached at (866) 488-7386. Users can also access chat services at or text START to 678678. This article originally appeared on Advocate: Donald Trump's election triggered transgender people to contemplate DIY hormones & suicide: study RELATED Montana court strikes down ban on gender-affirming care for trans minors Hundreds protest Pittsburgh hospital for caving to Trump and denying trans youth gender-affirming care Supreme Court rules states can ban gender-affirming care for youth in U.S. v. Skrmetti
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- Yahoo
Community network receives £132k to boost services
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Fast Five Quiz: Dementia
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Each instrument has strengths in different clinical contexts, and no single tool is universally preferred. Clinicians should use their judgment to select the most appropriate assessment based on the patient's needs, setting, and available resources. Learn more about Alzheimer's disease workup. FDG PET measures cerebral glucose metabolism, which reflects neuronal and synaptic activity. Patterns of regional glucose hypometabolism can be linked to specific neurodegenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's disease or frontotemporal lobar degeneration. These distinct metabolic patterns can help differentiate the clinical diagnosis when the presentation is unclear or atypical. FDG PET does not detect tau protein. That is typically accomplished via tau PET imaging or cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers. Furthermore, frontotemporal dementia might involve tau pathology, but FDG PET provides only functional metabolic imaging and not protein-specific imaging. FDG PET also does not quantify tau or phosphorylated tau proteins in suspected Alzheimer's disease. FDG PET is often most helpful in early or uncertain cases of cognitive decline, not in advanced dementia with broad functional deterioration, in which imaging offers limited additional value. Learn more about imaging studies for frontotemporal dementia and frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Brexpiprazole, an SDAM, is currently the only drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for control of agitation associated with Alzheimer's dementia. SSRIs and NDRIs are not approved for this purpose. Donanemab and lecanemab are both monoclonal antibodies indicated for use in early Alzheimer's disease with mild dementia. They are intended for amyloid reduction and modest slowing of cognitive decline, not for control of agitation. Learn more about medications for Alzheimer's disease.
