Author(s)

Rafael Fernández García-Andrade^1,2,3,4*, Beatriz Serván Rendón-Luna², Virginia Vidal Martínez⁵, Elena Medina Téllez De Meneses^1,6, Blanca Reneses Prieto^2,3,4

¹Mental Health Street Team of Madrid’s “Programme for the Psychiatric Care of the Homeless Mentally Ill”, Madrid, Spain.
²Institute of Psychiatry and Mental Health of the Clínico San Carlos Hospital, Madrid, Spain.
³Health Research Institute of the Hospital Clínico San Carlos (IdISSC), Madrid, Spain.
⁴Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine, Complutense University, Madrid, Spain.
⁵Alcorcón University Hospital Foundation, Madrid, Spain.
⁶La Paz University Hospital, Madrid, Spain.

Transgender women (TW) with Severe Mental Illness (SMI) are one of the most vulnerable and most difficult to engage in order to receive medical attention population, raising major challenges in their treatment of adverse health conditions. A retrospective chart review was carried out to identify TW with SMI attended by the “Programme for the Psychiatric Care of the Homeless Mentally Ill” in Spain from June 2015 to June 2018. During the study period, 235 patients with SMI received psychiatric care, of which only 3 (1.3%) were TW. Sociodemographic and clinical variables of these patients are described. We conclude that TW with SMI suffer significant levels of discrimination, stigma, and physical violence. This stigma plays an important role in limiting the opportunities and access to resources in a number of critical domains (e.g., medical care, disability certificate, accommodation in shelters) while continuously having a detrimental effect on their mental health. Forced migration in TW with SMI, must be specially considered. In addition homelessness and social exclusion are structural risk factors for HIV in TW with SMI. Social, health and psychiatric care may moderate the effect of stressors on mental health, reduce social isolation, and build social networks.

LGTB, Transgender Women, Mental Illness, Homeless Population, Homelessness

García-Andrade, R. , Rendón-Luna, B. , Martínez, V. , De Meneses, E. and Prieto, B. (2019) Transgender Women with Severe Mental Illness and Homelessness: A Retrospective Case Series. Open Journal of Social Sciences, 7, 405-411. doi: 10.4236/jss.2019.78030.