Community health, Talcahuano's Health Service experience in trans health

Abstract

Quality health care is not guaranteed for trans people in Chile. For this reason, the experience of the Talcahuano Health Service, in which the trans community works together with the institutions, stands out as important and pioneering at the country level. This research describes the work of the Talcahuano Health Service's Trans Desk. The qualitative approach with grounded theory was used. Data collection was carried out through semi-structured interviews with professionals and community members of the Trans Table. Two main categories were identified, corresponding to the "Need for Depathologization and Good Treatment" and "Dialogue and Social Participation". The first corresponds to the background of the second. Results indicate that joint work, the commitment of professionals and community agents, and the support of the headship, is fundamental in responding to the need detected by both the institutions and the trans community. This type of work should be replicated in other country services to guarantee care for trans people.