Community health workers as catalysts for mental health promotion in transgender and nonbinary communities

Abstract

There is a significant disparity between the cisgender population and the transgender and nonbinary (trans) communities in the United States in terms of the availability and accessibility of evidence-based mental health services, particularly given epidemiological data on elevated rates of lifetime suicide attempts (40% vs 4.6%), severe distress (39% vs 5%), and clinical depression (52% vs 8.4%) diagnoses that are well documented among this population.

Systematically vulnerable trans communities (i.e., those who are vulnerable because of individual circumstances and broader, entrenched systems of inequality that have consistently and historically disadvantaged them)—including younger, Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian American, and Pacific Islander trans communities—experience pronounced stress-sensitive mental health conditions as a result of chronic stress stemming from experiences of bias, prejudice, and discrimination related to being transgender.

Despite recent advancements in public health’s priorities and goals in the United States, trans communities continue to grapple with systemic barriers to mental health services. Community health workers are crucial for bridging this gap in mental health service provision.