Providing Affirming Care to Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth

This book aids clinicians in supporting and caring for transgender and gender-diverse children and adolescents - youth who are born into an incongruent body. 

A recent study using data from 19 states reported that 1.8% of American youth identified as transgender. Many people who are transgender will experience gender dysphoria, the intense emotional distress that is caused by a discrepancy between a person's gender identity and their sex assigned at birth. 

In this compact volume, the authors discuss the variety of domains involved in addressing gender dysmorphia: social, psychological, medical, and legislative/advocacy. They provide clear and concise information on the types and timing of gender-affirming medications and surgical interventions and offer useful suggestions for making interactions in the clinic and the clinical space inclusive for transgender and gender-diverse youth. Among the topics covered include:

• identity development and gender nonconformity in early childhood and puberty
• the importance of access to mental health professionals with expertise in gender nonconformity
• the responsible use of developmentally appropriate gender-affirming medications and surgical interventions
• related clinical issues such as nutrition counselling for youth receiving gender-affirming treatments
• creating a safe and inclusive healthcare environment for transgender and gender-diverse youth
• advocating for transgender and gender-diverse patients by working with local and national policy makers

Providing Affirming Care to Transgender and Gender-Diverse Youth is essential reading for pediatric healthcare professionals including physicians in pediatrics and family medicine, plastic surgeons, nurses, dietitians, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and other practitioners. Students in these fields as well as policy makers also would find this a useful resource.

Adam W. Dell, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician and adolescent medicine provider at the University of Utah. Dr. Dell's clinical interests include primary care for underrepresented groups including indigenous populations and LGBTQI youth. He enjoys providing gender affirming care and mental health services to gender diverse youth. Dr. Dell is an enrolled member of the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation. He completed a residency in pediatrics at the University of Utah. Dr. Dell's research interests include expanding diversity, inclusion, and equity to resident education; bridging the gap between gender affirming care and primary care; and physician wellness. Dr. Dell feels that as healthcare providers, gender diversity needs to be more than accepted-it needs to be celebrated. It is his passion to help train more general pediatricians to be gender affirming champions. 
Jessica Robnett, PsyD, received her PsyD in Clinical Psychology from the Georgia School of Professional Psychology at Argosy University with practicum training at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. She completed her internship at Miami Children's Hospital and postdoctoral fellowship at Primary Children's Hospital, specializing in Pediatric Psychology. Dr. Robnett is a Visiting Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Utah School of Medicine and is in the Division of Pediatric Behavioral Health. Her primary clinical interests include assessment and treatment of children and adolescents with medical illnesses with work in both pulmonology and adolescent medicine. Her research interests include mental health in pediatric cystic fibrosis patients and integration of behavioral health services into subspecialty clinics. 
Dana N. Johns, MD, is a board certified plastic surgeon at the University of Utah and specializes in all areas of craniofacial surgery, including cleft lip, nose and palate deformities, craniosynostosis, ear reconstruction and posttraumatic reconstruction, facial feminization, as well as general pediatric plastic surgery. Her clinical interests also include facial cosmetic surgery and gender confirmation surgery. Dr. Johns is a native of Pennsylvania and earned her undergraduate degree from Franklin & Marshall College and her medical degree from Thomas Jefferson Medical College. She completed a Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery Residency at the University of Utah and a Cleft and Craniofacial Fellowship at Stanford University. Dr. Johns enjoys spending her free time with her family and is an avid rock climber, snowboarder, and oil painter. 
Emily M. Graham, BSN, is a medical student at the University of Utah. Prior to matriculating into medical school, Emily worked as a nurse, where she developed a passion for patient advocacy and reconstructive surgery. Emily hopes to enrich her patients' lives through clinical care, research, and continued advocacy. 
Cori A. Agarwal, MD, is a board-certified plastic surgeon at the University of Utah. She is originally from the Big Island of Hawaii. After graduating from Yale University, she attended medical school at the University of Hawaii John A. Burns School of Medicine. She completed her residency in General Surgery and Plastic Surgery at the University of Chicago followed by a fellowship year with Dr. Jack Owsley at the California Medical Center in San Francisco. Dr. Agarwal is the co-founder and medical director of the University of Utah Transgender Multidisciplinary Health Program and has a busy practice in gender-affirming surgery. Dr. Agarwal performs a range of gender-affirming surgeries and is recognized as a leader and an expert in the area of chest masculinization. She has published and presented extensively on the subject, specifically in the areas of quality of life improvement, patient-reported outcomes, and surgical technique. 
Lindsey Imber, MS, RD, CD, is a classically trained chef who studied culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University. After nearly a decade of working in restaurants and cooking for sports teams, she wanted to figure out how she could use her love of food to help people. She has since received her graduate degree in Nutrition and Integrative Physiology from the University of Utah and has worked as a clinical dietitian since 2018. She spent three years with the Adolescent Medicine Clinic at the University of Utah working with transgender and gender-diverse adolescents. She is currently the Patient Services Manager for HCA Healthcare at St. Mark's hospital. Through her passion for food and knowledge of nutrition, she is able to help patients find happiness and health in every bite of food they take. 
Nicole L. Mihalopoulos, MD, MPH, is Chief of the Division of Adolescent Medicine in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Utah. She is the founder and medical director of the University of Utah Health Adolescent Medicine Clinic and the Primary Children's Hospital Gender Management and Support (GeMS) Clinic. These clinics comprise a multi-disciplinary team of providers including Adolescent Medicine, Adolescent Psychology, Registered Dietitian, and Nurse Coordinator. Dr. Mihalopoulos is board certified in Internal Medicine, Preventive Medicine and Adolescent Medicine. As a clinician scientist, her research focuses on cardiovascular disease risk factors among adolescents.