There is a particular kind of love involved in caring for another person as they age — a love that is generous, sometimes exhausting, and often profoundly rewarding. For many older LGBTQIA+ adults, caregiving is not a new experience. This community has a long history of caring deeply for its own: through the HIV/AIDS crisis, through illness and grief, through chosen families built out of necessity and belonging.

Today, as the LGBTQIA+ community ages, so too do the individuals in this community who are providing informal care — for partners, friends, family, and chosen family. And while caregiving carries meaning, it also carries weight.

Research is beginning to illuminate what that weight looks like for LGBTQIA+ caregivers in particular, and also, what helps.

Why the stories our culture tells about growing older begin shaping us long before we get there; and why it’s never too early, or too late, to push back.

Loneliness is something everyone experiences at some point in life, whether it’s after a move, a breakup, or during major transitions like parenting, caregiving, or retirement. But for people moving through midlife and beyond in LGBTQIA+ communities, loneliness often carries an extra weight. It can feel like a familiar companion, one that has been present since long before the world found the words to name it.

If you’re in your 40s, 50s, or 60s and starting to notice that you’re occasionally forgetting things, misplacing things, sometimes having trouble finding words, or worrying about future memory loss, you’re not alone. Although dementia is not a normal part of ageing, age is still the greatest risk factor for dementia (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2025). But what if an increasingly well-supported protective factor for brain health isn’t found in a prescription pad, but in something much more fundamental: your sense of purpose in life?