Aging with Affirmation summarizes the findings of a study for which the aim was to explore the healthcare and social service experiences of transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) older adults.

The research was borne out of a partnership between Egale Canada and a group of researchers from across Canada. Through focus groups with 21 participants, which comprised TGD older adults (ages 50+), service providers, and community advocates, we developed an understanding of how people who are aging and TGD experience systems of care and what they need from these systems in the context of their engagement.

Research findings are organized into five themes that together represented the perspectives of participants involved in the study:

  1. historical context in experiences of structural oppression.
  2. (in)visible precarity at the nexus of transness and older age.
  3. intersectional expressions of contemporary state- and institutionally-sanctioned oppression.
  4. resistance of TGD older adults and their allies across service settings.
  5. closing current gaps: ground-up activities to build space for TGD older adults.

Using this Report

This report can be used to guide policy and practice to address the needs of aging trans and gender diverse people in Canada.

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The report ends with an overview of key policy and practice recommendations that stem from our findings, all of which highlight the need for policymakers and service providers to engage meaningfully and collaborate with TGD older adults in the context of developing policy and programming to address the priorities of this population.

Join us for a presentation on this report on March 18, 2025

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Acknowledgements

This report was written by K. A. Kenney, Hannah Kia, Celeste Pang, Kaan Göncü, Brittany Jakubiec, Kinnon Ross MacKinnon, Lori E. Ross. In Partnership with Egale Canada.

We would like to sincerely thank the participants of Aging with Affirmation, who generously shared their insights.

This study was supported with a Partnership Engage Grant awarded to Hannah Kia by Canada’s Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).