IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v19y2022i21p13883-d953006.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Thinking Time, Shifting Goalposts and Ticking Time Bombs: Experiences of Waiting on the Gender Identity Development Service Waiting List

Author

Listed:
  • Kathy McKay

    (Public Health, Policy and Systems, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK
    Tavistock Research Unit, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London NW3 5BA, UK)

  • Eilis Kennedy

    (Tavistock Research Unit, Tavistock and Portman NHS Foundation Trust, London NW3 5BA, UK
    Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK)

  • Talen Wright

    (Division of Psychiatry, University College London, London WC1E 6BT, UK)

  • Bridget Young

    (Public Health, Policy and Systems, Institute of Population Health, University of Liverpool, Liverpool L69 3BX, UK)

Abstract

LOGiC-Q is a prospective longitudinal qualitative study that explores the experiences of children and young people, and their families, who have been referred to the Gender Identity Development Service (GIDS) in the UK. This paper describes the experiences of children and young people and their parents while they are on the waiting list to be seen. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with 39 families who had been referred to GIDS and were waiting for their first appointment with the service. Both parent and child/young person were interviewed. Analysis of the anonymised interview transcripts was informed by both narrative and thematic approaches, and three predominant narratives around waiting were identified: 1. Positive experiences attached to waiting; 2. Feelings of distress and stuckness; 3. Suggestions for support while waiting. Findings from this study indicate variations in how waiting is experienced depending on the age of the child, and how distressed their body makes them feel. Young people and their parents offered suggestions for how the service could support families on the waiting list. These suggestions related primarily to ways of checking in and providing reassurance that they were at least still on the list as well as ideas about how to make the wait less distressing, rather than necessarily making the wait shorter, which was more spoken about in terms of an ideal rather than a realistic option.

Suggested Citation

  • Kathy McKay & Eilis Kennedy & Talen Wright & Bridget Young, 2022. "Thinking Time, Shifting Goalposts and Ticking Time Bombs: Experiences of Waiting on the Gender Identity Development Service Waiting List," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(21), pages 1-20, October.
  • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:21:p:13883-:d:953006
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/21/13883/pdf
    Download Restriction: no

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/19/21/13883/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Lee, Amanda A. & James, Aimee S. & Hunleth, Jean M., 2020. "Waiting for care: Chronic illness and health system uncertainties in the United States," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shukla, Prakriti & Lee, Myeong & Whitman, Samantha A. & Pine, Kathleen H., 2022. "Delay of routine health care during the COVID-19 pandemic: A theoretical model of individuals’ risk assessment and decision making," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 307(C).
    2. Roberti, Javier & Alonso, Juan Pedro & Blas, Leandro & May, Carl, 2022. "How do social and economic vulnerabilities shape the work of participating in care? Everyday experiences of people living with kidney failure in Argentina," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:19:y:2022:i:21:p:13883-:d:953006. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.