Young people's experiences of negotiating health care services in relation to sexual and gender identities: a community-based approach to service improvement

LGBTIQ young people experience intersecting forms of disadvantage concerning youth status and sexual and/or gender identity, contributing to poorer wellbeing. The paper presents a research project with a youth mental health service, youth reference group and researchers to improve services to this community in Australia. An online survey was designed to learn about their views on service access, experiences and improvements to inform the development of training programmes for health care professionals. Thematic analysis of surveys (N=101) highlights the salience of: services’ visible commitment to LGBTIQ communities; how the relevance of sexuality and/or gender to service interaction is negotiated; and the heteronormative and cisnormative shaping of health care interactions. Implications for health-enabling contexts are reflected upon from a community health psychology perspective.