International Conference 2024 | LGBTIQA+ Inclusive Care in Practice - Mental Health, Youth, Bereavement and Health Systems

The 10th International Conference on Social Work in Health and Mental Health (ICSWHMH) was held in November 2024 in Melbourne. This significant event in successfully brought together social work professionals, researchers, educators, and students from around the world to discuss and share the latest developments in the field of social work in health and mental health.

Recording 1

Clinical Experiences and Therapeutic Approaches of Mental Health Practitioners Serving Transgender and Gender-Diverse Adolescents

Presenter: Mrs Neta Magen (Israel)

This presentation explores the complex family, social, and cultural contexts navigated by LGBTQ+ individuals, with a particular focus on gender-diverse adolescents. It examines the critical role of therapists in supporting young people to explore and express their gender identity, highlights the importance of parental acceptance and open parent–adolescent communication, and considers the ethical challenges clinicians may encounter in gender-affirming practice. The presentation also reflects on the broader influence of societal norms on identity development.

Recording 2

LGBTIQA+ Youth Peer Mentoring in Practice: Community Development with Therapeutic Wellbeing

Presenter: Mr George Ioannides (Australia, VIC)

Queerspace mentoring and youth programs significantly impact LGBTQI+ communities by focusing on community development, peer mentoring, and mental health support. These programs offer free mentoring and social activities, helping individuals connect and combat isolation. Evaluations show they effectively prevent mental health crises, with participants reporting increased safety and improved well-being. The importance of tailored services for youth facing discrimination is highlighted, along with a call for ongoing growth in queer social work.

Recording 3

Slaying the Foundation: Building Capacity and Promoting LGBTIQA+ Safe and Inclusive Care in a Major Australian Trauma Hospital Through Clinical Lived-Experience Roles

Presenters: Mx Tegan Murnane (Australia, VIC) & Mx Connor Gryffydd (Australia, VIC)

The LGBTIQA+ community experience significant barriers in accessing healthcare systems due to limited access to supports, high levels of discrimination, and fear of

mistreatment.

In 2021, the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) established a LGBTIQA+ Patient Liaison Service, believed to be the first of its kind in an Australian hospital, and began laying the foundations toward advancing health care for everyone under the rainbow.

The RMH LGBTIQA+ Patient Liaison Service consists of social-work trained clinicians who, along with their extensive clinical skills and knowledge, bring lived experience as members of the LGBTIQA+ community to the roles.

Now in its third year of service, the RMH LGBTIQA+ Patient Liaison Service rolls out the metaphorical rainbow carpet to provide direct support to LGBTIQA+ consumers, education and consult for staff around safe and inclusive care and drives continual improvement in RMH systems, practices, and facilities.

The RMH LGBTIQA+ Patient Liaison team are passionate about the pursuit of embedding LGBTIQA+ peer-led specialist services within health care settings throughout Victoria, Australia, and the world!

We are excited to provide an overview and insight into trends, learnings, triumphs, and challenges for the consideration of organisations seeking to implement similar LGBTIQA+ focused roles.

Recording 4

The Impact of Minority Stress and Intersectionality on the Experience and Research of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans* And Queer Bereavement

Presenter: Ms Felicity Johnson (Australia, NSW)

This session presents the findings from a scoping review of LGBTQ+ bereavement research from 2003-2023. The aim of this scoping review was to map existing understandings of the ways in which a sexual and/or gender minority identity impacts bereavement experiences, and how minority stress and intersectionality interact with

these experiences.

Findings are presented in four themes: Systemic barriers, Complexities of (not) disclosing identity, Minimising of loss, and LGBTQ+ community dis/connection.

Consideration of the choices made in the recruiting, conducting and reporting of LGBTQ+ bereavement research will also be discussed; in particular, how these choices often perpetuate the prototypical image of an LGBTQ+ person as White,

cisgender, middle-class and urban.

If we are to further our knowledge of LGBTQ+ bereavement experiences, we must depart from the myth of the homogenous ‘LGBTQ+ community’ and investigate how intersections such as gender, race, religion, (dis)ability, geography and age influence

how sexual and gender minorities experience and navigate bereavement.

This presentation is directly relevant to social workers who support bereaved and/or LGBTQ+ persons, but also speaks to broader interests of social workers, such as structural disadvantage, discrimination, intersectionality and research.