“Just Going Without”: A Health Needs Assessment for Queer Women, Non-binary, and Transgender People in Seattle, WA

Thesis (Master's)--University of Washington, 2022Queer people (LGBTQIA+ people) face discrimination that negatively impacts their health. Research on queer health has tended to condense people of diverse queer identities into one group, meaning little is understood about the differences in health needs at different intersections of queerness. This trend has obscured the health needs of queer women, people of color, gender minorities (non-binary, genderqueer), and transgender people. The present study uses mixed methods to evaluate the health needs of queer women and non-binary people. Our findings indicate that queer women and non-binary people face considerable barriers when seeking health care services, across a broad spectrum of service types. Insurance and financial barriers were most ubiquitous, but transportation, hours, and queer competence also presented barriers that reduced access to care. This study improves our understanding of queer health needs and suggests areas for intervention to support queer health, but further research is needed

The Impact of COVID-19 on Transit Workers: Perceptions of Employer Responses and Associations with Health Factors

COVID-19 has had a substantial impact on transit workers’ lives, especially among public-facing vehicle operators. The current project examined relationships between workers’ knowledge and perceptions of their employer’s COVID-19 safety responses, job attitudes, and health. We surveyed transit workers (N = 174) between July and August 2020 and followed up 3 months later. Fifty-seven workers responded to the follow-up survey. Surveys addressed workers’ knowledge and perceptions of their employer implementing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)-recommended COVID-19 safety responses, COVID-19 risk perceptions, job attitudes, and health factors. Employees reported knowledge of their employer implementing ~8 of 12 CDC-recommended responses. The most reported response was informational poster placements; the least reported was designating a point-person for COVID-19 concerns. Significant associations were found between knowledge of employer safety responses and lower COVID-19 risk perceptions, better job attitudes, and greater mental and global health. Operators (i.e. public-facing workers) reported worse perceptions of employer responses, and higher COVID-19 risk perceptions, work stress, and turnover intentions, compared with non-operators. A time-lagged panel model found that COVID-19 risk perceptions significantly mediated the relationship between public-facing work status and follow-up depression, anxiety, stress, and global health. Results reveal opportunities for transit authorities to broaden and better communicate their responses to emergent occupational safety and health crises