SATISFICING DEATH: Ageing and end‐of‐life preparation among transgender older Americans

In: Sociology of health & illness: a journal of medical sociology, Volume 46, Issue 5, p. 887-906

Abstract

AbstractA good death—a normative ideology of living and dying well that may allow an individual to gain awareness, acceptance, and preparation for death—has captured the attention of researchers, clinicians, and policymakers in recent years. Prior sociological research has uncovered nuanced perspectives of a good death, yet there has been minimal exploration into how marginalised communities reconstruct their own ideals of a good death in response to structural and institutional inequities. Utilising data from 47 in‐depth interviews, I examine how transgender older adults perceive and plan for ageing and end‐of‐life experiences through advance care planning. My analysis reveals transgender older adults' reevaluated notions of a normatively desirable good death for themselves due to existing inequities. Consequently, they actively reconstruct a personalised ideology of death that is adequate enough to meet their end‐of‐life needs. I further offer the conceptualisation of SATISFICING DEATH, as a process of individuals from marginalised communities reevaluating and reconstructing their own ideologies of a good death that is adequate enough while using resourceful strategies to improve existing social conditions for themselves. These findings highlight the critical need to provide affirming end‐of‐life care, support, and resources to transgender communities.