Partnering with trans and gender diverse youth in health care research: considerations for safe and meaningful engagement

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: When pursuing participatory methods with youth, health care research teams may have the opportunity to create partnerships with transgender and gender diverse youth (TGDY). While these partnerships are crucial to ensure the voices of TGDY are included throughout health domains, research teams must ensure this marginalized population is safely and meaningfully included. It is therefore important for research teams to be aware of key pitfalls that contribute to the marginalization of TGDY in health care and research, and certain strategies to counteract these pitfalls. METHODS: Using our lived and learned expertise, this commentary seeks to support research teams wishing to conduct participatory research that includes TGDY. RESULTS: We present an overview of the mechanisms through which TGDY are marginalized throughout health care and research, providing context around the sociocultural ostracization, institutional erasure, and epistemic injustice this group faces. Considering these issues, we provide suggested approaches to ensure partnerships with TGDY are safe and meaningful. CONCLUSION: Including TGDY voices throughout health care research is key to counteract the marginalization this group faces. Through safe and meaningful partnership, research teams across health care fields can contribute to this work. PLAIN LANGUAGE SUMMARY: This commentary aims to provide insight and guidance to health care research teams who wish to include transgender and gender diverse youth (TGDY) in their participatory structures (eg, advisory committees), but may not feel adequately informed about key considerations surrounding this group. To ensure partnerships with TGDY are safe and meaningful, it is helpful for research teams to better understand the pitfalls that have bolstered the marginalization of TGDY in health care and research, and how teams may avoid these pitfalls. We therefore use our lived and learned experience to provide an overview of these pitfalls, as well as strategies health care research teams can use to support safe and meaningful engagement when including TGDY partners in their work. Using these strategies, research teams from across health care domains may contribute to research and health care practices that are more inclusive and considerate of the realities of TGDY.