Standards of Care for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Non-Conforming People

by Eli Coleman, Walter O. Bockting, Marsha Botzer

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health promotes the highest standards of health care for individuals through the articulation of Standards of Care (SOC) for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People. The SOC are based on the best available science and expert professional consensus.

The overall goal of the SOC is to provide clinical guidance for health professionals to assist
transsexual, transgender, and gender nonconforming people with safe and effective pathways to achieving lasting personal comfort with their gendered selves, in order to maximize their overall health, psychological well-being, and self-fulfillment. This assistance may include primary care, gynecologic and urologic care, reproductive options, voice and communication therapy, mental health services (e.g., assessment, counseling, psychotherapy), and hormonal and surgical treatments. While this is primarily a document for health professionals, the SOC may also be used by individuals, their families, and social institutions to understand how they can assist with promoting optimal health for members of this diverse population.

This is the 7th version of the Standards of Care since the original 1979 document. The first six versions were published in 1979, 1980, 1981, 1990, 1998, and 2001. Version 7 of the Standards of Care (SOC) for the Health of Transsexual, Transgender, and Gender Nonconforming People will be available in several additional places for wide distribution and ease of access.

Genres: Psychology

112 pages, Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 1979

Reviews

[Paige McLoughlin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The World Professional Association for Transgender Health is a medical organization that puts out the guidelines and one model of transgender care. Its guidelines are more along the lines of the medical model for treating what they term as gender dysphoria and have more of a Psychiatric Medical model of transgender health. It calls for psychiatric assessment and medical supervision for safety and psychological therapy for dysphoria. It has guidelines for different age groups facing transition. The other model is the informed consent model which I have yet to explore but seems like a more open or libertarian framework for transitioning. Ease of access and supervisory roles are different in both models. I have yet to explore the informed consent model but I have looked quite a bit into the WPATH guidelines. Anyway, WPATH is evidence-based and admittedly probably more cautious but ultimately the emphasis is merely the nuanced differences between a medical or political model of transitioning. Is it a treatment psychological condition or a right of self-expression. Ultimately it is both but where the emphasis lies is subject to the individual case. Anyway, I will leave a link to the WPATH guidelines I read. The seventh edition is the one I have read but the eighth edition is in the works.

Update 9/15/2022

I read the 8th edition which was published today. It is twice as long at 260 pages and covers a lot more aspects of transgender life and care. This topic really has blown up in the last few years coming out in 2020 I became a trans girl just as the transgender issues were becoming a political football in the culture war, especially in terms of gatekeeping and especially for young people. It is wild that I came out at this most inconvenient yet politically salient time. The new standards of care are a lot more flexible and way more expansive as this topic is a moving target. Keep an eye on this space cause I guarantee things will change.
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/1...

Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) videos below

https://youtu.be/f70ttM2h18o

https://youtu.be/yXGQw8Mr-YU

https://youtu.be/GAJZ4fwTuyc

https://youtu.be/GJEix-i5pmE

https://youtu.be/XNa_pTJxmiM

Gender Reassignment Surgery video below.

https://youtu.be/XV2tUqKeax8

https://youtu.be/lwEu_iwNCq0

[Rachael · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF. 7th edition is terribly outdated, especially on the medical side where hormones are concerned. Already reading 8th. An easy way to distinguish how much more research has been done, just on sex hormones alone, is to do a #F for "cancer": 26 results for the 7th edition and 109 results for the 8th edition. 7th edition glosses over long-term side effects of hormones (such as osteoporosis, which is mentioned twice) whereas 8th edition appears not to (shows up 24 times). Skip this and read the 8th edition published in 2022.