The study will contribute to the generation of knowledge geared towards clinical practice and more inclusive public policies.
How do trans people age? What challenges arise as they get older? What healthcare arrangements should they make for the future?
These are some of the questions that the study “Anticipating old age: perceptions of young trans adults regarding the ageing process and future care needs”, by the RISE-Health Research Unit and the University of Aveiro (UA), led by Sara Guerra (RISE-Health/UA), aims to answer.
The initiative “aims to understand the perceptions, expectations and concerns of young trans adults regarding ageing, old age and care in later life, including healthcare and potential institutional settings”, as stated in the information booklet for the initiative.
To proceed with this study, researchers from RISE-Health and UA are forming a “cohort” of young adults, aged between 18 and 40, who identify as trans people. Recruitment online is already underway.
“This study could have a significant impact at multiple levels of healthcare management and ageing within the trans population, particularly by contributing to the generation of knowledge geared towards clinical practice and more inclusive public policies,” explains the specialist from the RISE-Health Research Unit.
According to the lecturer at the University of Aveiro, “research on trans ageing has shown that these populations face specific challenges, such as barriers to accessing care, discontinuity of treatment and institutional settings ill-equipped to respond to gender diversity (for example, in residential care homes for older people or health services)”.
The study “Anticipating old age: perceptions of young trans adults regarding the ageing process and future care needs” is being carried out as part of the master’s thesis of Inês Silva, a PhD student supervised by researcher Sara Guerra.
Registration here.
For further information, please contact student Inês Silva via email at i.silvam@ua.pt.