Long-Term Care Planning and the Changing Landscape of LGBT Aging: Student Research With Diverse Elders in the Bronx

This article reports on an exploratory study examining end-of-life planning among members of a lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) senior center in the Bronx, New York, that provided social work students hands-on qualitative research experience in an urban setting. Despite health disparities such as increased rates of depression and isolation and shortened life expectancy as compared to non–LGBT-identified peers, older members of LGBT communities demonstrate resilience as they face their own aging and mortality without traditional family caregivers. Findings suggest that previous experiences providing care for dying adult loved ones can improve well-being by clarifying personal care wishes, promoting planning for end of life, and diminishing anxiety about death. Implications extend beyond LGBT older adults to persons facing late life without care partners for a variety of reasons.