Hiv Aids And Older Adults

First published in 1996. The incidence of HIV/AIDS in society has reached epidemic levels. People of all ages are contracting the disease, and with the advances in medication and treatment, those with the disease are living longer. This book discusses the unique issues facing older adults with HIV/AIDS and addresses living with the disease.

This volume focuses on the ways in which HIV/AIDS can affect older adults. The chapters in this book discuss the variety of HIV/AIDS problems that we face at the individual, family, and community levels. Topics examined include demographics and epidemiological aspects of HIV disease with this population; prevention of HIV disease; issues impacting individuals in a medical, psychological, and social context; and service needs. Originally published as a special issue of the Journal of Mental Health and Aging, the volume contains new chapters on demographics, HIV prevention and education, and effective coalition building among systems of care. Contributors include Diane Zablotsky, Michael Kennedy, Janice Nichols, and Timothy Heckman, among others. For Further Information, Please Click Here!

In 1998, approximately 30 million people worldwide were living with HIV/AIDS, about 5 million of whom became infected that year. The epidemic continues to expand, with an estimated doubling time of 10 years, making AIDS the leading infectious cause of death ahead of tuberculosis and malaria. Even in the U.S.A. where the death rate from AIDS is declining as a result of effective drug therapies, HIV infection rates continue to climb in several population groups. The prevalence of AIDS among people over the age of 50 is steadily increasing, and most older people are unprepared to address it for a number of reasons, including the widespread discomfort with matters sexual and homosexual and the belief that elderly people are not sexually active and therefore not at risk. This guide for care providers seeks to educate and inform readers about the difficulties and complications that accompany the disease in older people. Thus, while the appendix includes technical descriptions of methodology, data, and results, the narratives in the chapters describing the findings and their practical implications are written in layman's language. Topics covered include biomedical aspects, demographics, sexuality, stressors, mental health, older women, and patient care, all of which are supported by case studies.

This concise, clinically focused pocket guide offers a complete overview of HIV in the older patient and reviews the latest guidelines, treatment options, clinical trials, and management of HIV within this subgroup. The easily accessible text offers infectious disease specialists and other health care professionals with an excellent quick reference tool, with full color tables and figures enhancing the text further. HIV is a chronic disease that affects the immune system, leading to AIDS. As treatments have progressed and patients with HIV are living longer a new aspect has to be taken in to consideration when treating HIV and other conditions. Comorbidities are rife within older adults with HIV, as many of the treatments for HIV cause long-term side effects, such as heart conditions and cancer. Special consideration must be taken to ensure no toxic drug-drug interactions between treatments.

Get a detailed overview of the social services provided for HIV-infected midlife and older adults, and find out where social work practice with this growing population is headed! As more potent medications are being developed to treat HIV, people who have contracted the virus are living longer lives than previously expected. Survival means new side effects and increasingly complex issues, now compounded by the diseases of aging. All this presents unprecedented challenges to social service and benefit systems. Midlife and Older Adults and HIV: Implications for Social Service Research, Practice and Policy introduces policymakers and policy analysts, practitioners in the helping professions, and the public to available social services for aging adults who are living with HIV/AIDS. It also addresses midlife and older adults at risk of HIV infection as well as aging persons whose lives are affected by relatives and friends living with HIV. Midlife and Older Adults and HIV provides a comprehensive examination of this emerging field of practice. Specific chapters examine prevention, family care, vulnerability, inclusion, and the disease process itself. It lays out the broad terrain of future social work practice with HIV-infected elders and elders affected by HIV. The book concludes with reflections on survivorship during the past two decades from six older community leaders living with HIV/AIDS. It also provides current research findings, innovative conceptual models, an invaluable compendium of resource information from the National Association of HIV Over Fifty, and program ideas to address the HIV epidemic within the aging population. The issues addressed in Midlife and Older Adults and HIV include: HIV prevention initiatives coordination and integration of local service networks the health, social, and financial risks facing women with HIV the health consequences of HIV/AIDS and its interactions with normal aging the use of behavioral reinforcement methods as interventions perceptions of vulnerability to HIV among older African-American women and the role of intimate partners and much more! Midlife and Older Adults and HIV is a comprehensive resource on social services for aging adults who are living with HIV/AIDS. It serves as a record of what is known and what is presently being learned about practice in this constantly evolving field. The book is a call to action for social workers and other human service professionals to anticipate and plan for the emerging needs of persons with HIV/AIDS who are rapidly growing older. The array of topics covered in this volume also makes it ideal as a supplemental textbook in courses on HIV and aging.

Despite decades of attention on building a global HIV research and programming agenda, HIV in older populations has generally been neglected until recently. This new book focuses on HIV and aging in the context of ageism with regard to prevention, treatment guidelines, funding, and the engagement of communities and health and social service organizations. The lack of perceived HIV risk in late adulthood among older people themselves, as well on the part of providers and society in general, has led to a lack of investment in education, testing, and programmatic responses. Ageism perpetuates the invisibility of older adults and, in turn, renders current medical and social service systems unprepared to respond to patients’ needs. While ageism may lead to some advantages – discounts for services, for example – it is the negative aspects that must be addressed when determining the appropriate community-level response to the epidemic.

The first decade of the HIV/AIDS epidemic was defined by young gay men dying and activism. The second decade saw people of colour and women account for the majority of those with HIV, as well as the development of effective drugs and the hope that HIV could become treatable or even curable. In this third decade, HIV has evolved into a chronic manageable disease. Few would have ever thought that there would be large numbers of older adults living with HIV in our lifetimes. Developing a strategy to best sustain the health and quality of life for the ageing population living with HIV requires a rigorous assessment of this group's characteristics and needs. Research on Older Adults with HIV (ROAH), conducted by the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA), is the first step to begin to establish a valid comprehensive knowledge-base of the unique characteristics and needs of this growing population.

The first decade of the HIV/AIDS epidemic was defined by young gay men dying and activism. The second decade saw people of color and women account for the majority of those with HIV, as well as the development of effective drugs and the hope that HIV could become treatable or even curable. In this third decade, HIV has evolved into a chronic manageable disease. Few would have ever thought that there would be large numbers of older adults living with HIV in our lifetimes.Developing a strategy to best sustain the health and quality of life for the aging population living with HIV requires a rigorous assessment of this group's characteristics and needs. Research on Older Adults with HIV (ROAH), conducted by the AIDS Community Research Initiative of America (ACRIA), is the first step to begin to establish a valid comprehensive knowledge-base of the unique characteristics and needs of this growing population.