While there is a growing literature addressing the intersections of trans and aging, there has been little focus to date on trans and dementia. Anecdotal evidence suggests that cognitive changes accompanying dementia can impact on gender identity for trans people. For example, trans people with dementia may experience gender ‘confusion’ or forget they transitioned and reidentify with their sex/gender assigned at birth. How should we respond toward trans people with dementia if they forget, permanently or temporarily, their self-identified gender? Such situations can place practitioners in front of difficult decisions regarding external appearance (e.g. body care, haircuts, shaving, makeup), health care (e.g. hormonal treatments), as well as social interactions (e.g. pronouns and names). This presentation offers a first typology of current intervention responses to this potential phenomenon of gender confusion.
Our Speakers:
Marjorie Silverman, Ph.D. in Social Work, is an Associate Professor in the School of Social Work at the University of Ottawa. With a critical social gerontology perspective and a background in clinical practice, she conducts research using creative qualitative methods on topics related to family care, dementia, place and space, sociology of the body, and more recently, trans and gender studies. She has published articles in journals such as Dementia, Journal of Aging Studies, Journal of Gerontological Social Work, International Journal of Care and Caring, Qualitative Social Work, Affilia, Canadian Journal on Aging, Canadian Journal of Law & Society, and Sexualities.
Alexandre Baril is an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa. His work, carried out from an intersectional perspective, is at the crossroads of gender, queer, trans, disability/crip/mad studies, critical gerontology and critical suicidology. His passion and commitment to equity and diversity issues have earned him several awards, including the Canadian Disability Studies Association Tanis Doe Francophone Award in 2020 for his research, teaching and activism on disability. A prolific author, he has published in journals such as Hypatia; Feminist Review; TSQ: Transgender Studies Quarterly; Sexualities; DSQ: Disability Studies Quarterly; Journal of Literary & Cultural Disability Studies; Disability & Society; Somatechnics.
Host: German Chique-Alfonzo, Education and Program coordinator for the Dementia Society of Ottawa and Renfrew County
