End-of-Life Care for Transgender Older Adults

Abstract

As the number of transgender older adults increases, the need for respectful and inclusive end-of-life (EOL) care for this population is becoming more apparent. Aging transgender adults often face discrimination, inadequate access to care, and poor quality of care. In response, we organized a think tank that invited participation from 19 transgender older adults, scholars in EOL care, and palliative care providers in the United States to generate recommendations for EOL care for transgender older adults. Subsequently, we conducted a qualitative descriptive exploration of the written record of think tank discussions for the purpose of identifying key EOL care considerations for transgender older adults. We identified four themes that highlight the importance of understanding the experiences of transgender older adults for the advancement of future research, policy, and education initiatives aiming to ensure inclusive and equitable provision of EOL care by nurses and other clinicians for this population.

Project Respect: experiences of seriously ill LGBTQ+ patients and partners with their health care providers

“…The study did not recruit older adults residing at long-term-care facilities, where concerns about discrimination are noteworthy. 41 , 53 , 54 Inadequate statistical power to perform multivariable analyses limited our ability to examine differences among subgroups. Finally, the authors acknowledge that many of the concerns about serious illness care reported by our LGBTQ+ sample are shared among patients generally; it might have been useful to additionally include a comparison group of patients with which to measure our LGBTQ+ sample.…”

A life course perspective on sexual minorities: Implications for the study of homophobic prejudice and discrimination

“…Finally, we note that transgender and non‐binary (TNB) people are underrepresented in research on aging and the life course (but see Catlett et al., 2023; Fabbre, 2015; Lampe, 2023; Witten, 2014). Thomeer et al.…”

“…Finally, we note that transgender and non-binary (TNB) people are underrepresented in research on aging and the life course (but see Catlett et al, 2023;Fabbre, 2015;Lampe, 2023;Witten, 2014). Thomeer et al (2022) offers one of the only studies examining the life course trajectories of these populations, finding that community involvement, extracurricular activities, gender exploration, and gender-affirming care are reported as the most salient and impactful events in their lives.…”