Trans ageing & care: exploring the later life concerns of trans adults 50+

This presentation by a visiting academic will examine the ageing-related concerns and expectations of trans and gender non-confirming individuals in mid-to-later life (50+ years of age). A recent review of UK literature on LGBT health inequalities in later life points to the absence of evidence about the lives of older trans people (Kneale, Henley, Thomas and French, 2019). This absence is also mirrored in scholarship on critical gerontology and gender relations (Toze, 2018). Findings will be presented from a mixed-methods study of gender identity, ageing and care in later life, based in Wales UK (2016-19). Findings are from an online survey of health and social care professionals (n=165) and two-part life-history interviews with twenty-two individuals identifying as trans or non-gender conforming (50-74 years). Following the presentation, two short films will be screened from a new series of digital stories titled ‘Growing older as me’, funded through the study and produced by Fox and Owl, trans filmmakers from My Genderation, UK. (https://mygenderation.com) About the presenter Paul Willis is a senior lecturer in social work in the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol. Paul is a qualified social worker and a researcher in social care with interests in ageing, social inclusion, gender and sexuality in later life (particularly LGB&T ageing), and older men’s experiences of loneliness and social isolation. He is a Senior Research Fellow of the NIHR School for Social Care Research in England. Prior to moving to the UK in 2009, Paul studied a PhD in social work at the University of Tasmania. The seminar takes place in the Lecture Theatre on Level 1 of the Western Sydney University, Sydney City Campus building, 255 Elizabeth Street, Sydney CBD