Contacts:
Dr Rosie Canning drrosiecanning@gmail.com
Sarah Morris sarah.morris@monash.edu
Amie O’Brien amie.obrien@griffithuni.edu.au
Topics:
Establishing a TIG focusing on older care leavers would naturally align with INTRAC’s strategic objectives to promote dialogue, development of researchers, promote research, create publication opportunities and facilitate research utilisation. By recognizing older care-experienced adults as a distinct thematic area, INTRAC can lead the way in ensuring that “transitions from care” are understood not just as a move to emerging adulthood, but as a journey that impacts dignity and wellbeing across the lifespan.
Later-life “transitions” are real transitions—and they are shaped by care histories.
For many older care-experienced adults, the move into later adulthood brings new (and sometimes unavoidable) transitions: navigating health systems, social care, ageing-related services, housing changes, retirement, bereavement, and (for some) entry into residential care. These transitions can intersect powerfully with earlier experiences of institutionalisation, loss of control, and trauma, and therefore require specific conceptual and methodological attention.
Emerging evidence suggests distinctive risks and support needs in later life.
Recent research with older care leavers highlights deep mistrust of services, anxiety about re-institutionalisation, and strong preferences for autonomy-preserving supports (particularly “home-first” models). This body of work also indicates that “standard” service models can inadvertently replicate cues and practices associated with earlier institutional harm—raising the stakes for trauma-informed, care-leaver-informed practice.
The evidence gap is now unequivocal.
Alongside these emerging findings, we have recently undertaken an evidence synthesis focused on interventions to support the health and wellbeing of older care-experienced adults. We found no (0) studies which evaluated interventions to support the health and wellbeing of older care-experienced adults. In other words, despite clear need, we currently lack robust evaluated evidence to identify effective interventions to inform policy and practice to help this population. In contrast, intervention research for younger care leavers is far more developed, with existing reviews identifying a substantial volume of evaluated interventions. This imbalance strengthens the rationale for a dedicated TIG to accelerate knowledge development and translation.
Recent actions:
TIG was funded in September 2026!
