PULSAR
O papel de profissionais LGBTQ+ para uma saúde inclusiva
The project PULSAR aims to map the experiences of LGBTQ+ healthcare providers in Portugal. As recent literature shows, LGBTQ+ healthcare professionals are often overlooked as key actors in the promotion and implementation of inclusive healthcare practices. On one side, they face the stigma and discrimination experienced also by LGBTQ+ patients and often choose to conceal their identity or endure additional work-related pressures. On the other, they represent a fundamental key actor in providing expertise and knowledge to improve inclusivity in healthcare settings.
In the Portuguese context, the topic has not been explored yet and existing research, even if scarce, is focused on the experiences of LGBTQ+ patients. PULSAR aims at being the first exploration of the experiences of LGBTQ+ healthcare professionals in the country a thus holds strong relevance both to the national and international fields.
The choice of the name PULSAR evokes two key aspects of the project. First, in English, a “pulsar” is a small but dense star that emits signals outside of its magnetic poles: metaphorically, although LGBTQ+ professionals may represent only a small part of the overall population of healthcare providers, they are key actors in producing practices and trigger change that goes well beyond healthcare settings alone. However, “pulsar” in Portuguese is a verb meaning “pulsate”, or “beat”, and it is often used to indicate the beating of the heart: in this sense, the project aims at exploring a vital, although less known, centre of innovation in healthcare practices and value its potentialities and liveliness.
The project emphasizes the symbolic and material leverage of what happens in medical wards and the extent to which those spaces can replicate or reduce discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and sex characteristics. Moreover, it refers to the need to reward LGBTQ+ health professionals with a recognition of their importance as key agents of inclusion in healthcare.
The project PULSAR holds a strong exploratory component and aims at producing an enduring impact in the transformation of healthcare, by producing guidelines, involving key stakeholders and valuing embodied experiences.
It has three main objectives:
- Reviewing: to map out the contemporary situation of LGBTQ+ healthcare professionals in Portugal, including their experiences and needs;
- Responding: to design strategies of intervention and guidelines for enhancing inclusivity in the healthcare system;
- Rebuilding: to encourage transversal alliances between healthcare providers and the LGBTQ+ population through the mediating role of LGBTQ+ healthcare professionals.
The project is divided into three main phases that reflect the three main objectives.
- Phase 1, REVIEW, aims to map out the current experiences of LGBTQ+ HPs in Portugal. Considering that no studies so far have collected this data, the exploratory dimension of this phase is crucial. The collection of data will be developed following a mixed-method approach: an online questionnaire and qualitative interviews.
- Phase 2, RESPOND, aims at elaborating and disseminating guidelines to be implemented in healthcare systems. The objective is to publish a manual of guidelines to improve inclusion for HPs. The main target of the guidelines are healthcare institutions, policy-makers and professional corporations.
- Phase 3, REBUILD, aims to provide a platform for LGBTQ+ healthcare professionals to dialogue both with professional colleagues and LGBTQ+ activists. A one-day national event, open to LGBTQ+ activists and healthcare professionals, will be organised. The objective is to give visibility to the central role of LGBTQ+ professionals in promoting inclusivity in healthcare; to disseminate the guidelines and the recommendations that emerged from their experiences, and to create a platform of dialogue that can lead to future alliances.
Given its ambitious contours, the project PULSAR works to implement innovative practices and value existing embodied knowledge to produce more just, inclusive and diverse healthcare settings.
