Caring for LGBTQ+ Patients

June is Pride month. In recognition, I’m sharing two sets of videos from the website janetabrahm.com: “Working with LGBTQ+ patients” with Dr. Alexis Drutchas, and“Working with transgender patients” with Dallas Ducar, NP, FAAN. I hope you find these interviews to be as helpful and insightful as I did. They provide strategies with which we can work to arrange care for those of this community who develop a serious illness to ensure that they feel seen, heard, respected, and supported. The link to the two videos is here. Scroll down to the section called “LGBTQ+ Patients.” You will find them in the video sub-section. 

Dr. Alexis Drutchas
In the first of this series of videos, Dr. Alexis Drutchas discusses “Working with LGBTQ+ patients.” Dr. Drutchas trained in family medicine at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. Her interest in caring for LGBTQ+ patients took root during her residency, where she witnessed firsthand the significant barriers LGBTQ+ individuals face accessing healthcare. During this time, she Co-founded The Rhode Island Trans Conference, which has been ongoing since 2015. Dr. Drutchas then worked as a primary care physician at Fenway Health, a nationally recognized LGBQT+ health center. Following this, she completed a fellowship and now specializes in Palliative Care for adult patients. She is presently an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and in August 2025, she will begin a new role as the Director of the Core Communication Program of the Department of Supportive Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston.

Dallas Ducar, NP, FAAN
In the second series of videos, “Working with transgender patients,” Dallas Ducar, NP, FAAN, reviews supportive and palliative needs of transgender cancer patients and their families, and how oncology and palliative care clinicians can best meet these needs. Dallas is a mental health nurse practitioner and fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She was the founding CEO of Transhealth in Massachusetts, which offers comprehensive health care for trans and gender-diverse individuals and families. Dallas is the recipient of the 2023 AACN Pioneering Spirit Award for her efforts to expand access to gender-affirming primary care, mental health services and community healthcare, as well as education, advocacy and research related to the needs of transgender and gender-diverse people. She is on the faculty of Columbia University, Northeastern University, University of Virginia (UVA) school of nursing, and the MGH Institute for Health Professions. Her current position is EVP of Donor Engagement and External Relations at Fenway Health.  Dallas has advised international research groups on best practices and has carried out community-based participatory action research programs dedicated to empowering gender-diverse voices in a community setting. She has been the primary investigator on multiple research grants dedicated to improving the quality of care for gender-diverse individuals.

I hope the information in the interviews provides the practical advice you may need as you care for LGBTQ+ patients with cancer, their partners and family members.  If questions remain, please see the other resources in Special Topics, LGBTQ+ patients.