Cancer significantly contributes to the burden of disease in adolescents and young adults (AYA) and has notable implications in terms of their health care engagement and psychosocial wellbeing. Added to this, large numbers of AYA oncology patients in Australia are treated within adult hospitals, occupying an at-times uninviting landscape with the potential for unsatisfactory care experiences and poorer health outcomes. The emergence of AYA oncology as a specialised field seeks to redress this historical “no man’s land”, championing the cause for developmentally-informed and multidisciplinary clinical services within age-appropriate treatment environments.
Notwithstanding the progress of recent decades, for a number of AYA sub-populations cancer care is far from equitable. Over the past eighteen months, work undertaken by the Victorian Adolescent & Young Adult Cancer Service suggests that this is pertinent for the AYA with cancer who identifies as sexually and/or gender diverse.
This session will outline how the intersection of cancer (and its associated treatment and interventions) to an already complex period of evolving sexuality and gender diversity can result in unique challenges and risks for the young LGBTI cancer patient. It is relevant to all health care professionals involved in cancer care, from allied health clinician to consultant oncologist, and particularly those whose well-intentioned response may be “But I don’t have any LGBTI cancer patients.” Indeed, conscious or not, this patient cohort are accessing our oncology clinics, hospital wards, radiotherapy beds and surgical suites, and it is imperative that we understand and respond to their unique care needs appropriately.
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