Providers may be better equipped to serve transgender people of color if they are prepared to understand their aging process through the patients’ unique perspectives. Not only are aging and dying meaningful components of a human development, but the values, milestones and rituals associated with these developmental stages vary across cultures.
By S. Aakash Kishore
We often think about the way we want to live our lives—we set goals, make plans and identify future hopes. Yet, until we are faced with mortality we rarely consider what it means to die with dignity. Healthcare providers who treat elder populations must keep this question at the forefront of their work. More importantly, however, they must be ready for a broad spectrum of answers, especially when working with diverse patient populations such as elder transgender and gender non-conforming people of color.