GMHC's Report on Aging and HIV Confirms Growing Number of Seniors with HIV

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
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Krishna Stone | 212.367.1016

New York, NY — In June, GMHC released a comprehensive report on HIV among older adults. "Growing Older With the Epidemic: Aging and HIV" provides a striking overview of current knowledge on older adults and HIV.  This population is growing at a startling rate, increasing by over 61% from 2001 to 2007, posing many unknowns and challenges. This groundbreaking report provides a roadmap to understand and address the needs of this burgeoning population of older Americans.

GMHC's report confirms the NYC Health Department's findings, released on Thusrday, July 15, that 75% of New Yorkers living with HIV/AIDS are 40 or older, and more than a third are over age 50.  Women over age 50 comprise a growing percentage of new HIV diagnoses among older adults.

"People with HIV are living longer due to anti-retrovirals, and 17% of new HIV infections occur among people over the age of 50," said Marjorie Hill, Ph.D., Chief Executive Officer of GMHC.   "Our society is not prepared for the aging baby boomer generation. We don't have enough geriatricians to care for the sharply rising number of seniors. We are even less prepared to care for populations with unique health care needs, such as HIV-positive older adults," Hill added.

Growing Older With the Epidemic provides a roadmap to the future with a broad and detailed range of policy recommendations which tackle the critical issues revealed in the report:  gaps in research, service provision, and government support.  Some of the recommendations on a local level include the following:

• The geriatric workforce is not at all prepared to accept the growing number of older adults living with HIV. There are not nearly enough well trained medical providers to care for the elderly, in general, let alone hundreds of thousands of elders living with HIV. Very few medical schools even have a geriatric focus. More health care providers must be trained in the unique needs of HIV-positive elders, including cultural competence programs and on-going technical assistance and capacity building assistance to support the integration of new knowledge and skills into the work of elder care.
• Healthcare providers, especially doctors, should proactively assess older patients for sexual health risks and sexual activity, and screen for HIV. Doctors should be encouraged to talk with their patients regarding sexual behavior/orientation and make clear that such conversations are confidential.
• Home healthcare aides, who provide critical support to homebound elders and their caregivers, should be trained in the particular experiences and needs of HIV-positive elders and LGBT elders to ensure culturally competent and nondiscriminatory care.
• The challenges of providing care to people living with HIV-both for traditional and nontraditional caregivers-require considerable support and assistance. AIDS service organizations, LGBT community centers, and other community-based organizations should address these challenges through programming that supports caregivers for people living with HIV.

"GMHC will continue to work with NYC Health Department and related agencies in addressing the complexities of aging and HIV," concluded Hill.

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GMHC is a not-for-profit, volunteer-supported and community-based organization committed to national leadership in the fight against AIDS.  We provide prevention and care services to men, women and families that are living with, or affected by, HIV/AIDS in New York City.  We advocate for scientific, evidence-based public health solutions for hundreds of thousands worldwide.