Overview

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.

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9780125180511

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Reviews

Overall, the book is written in a highly accessible and jargon-free style, and is relevant to researchers interested in issues relating to sexuality and ageing, as well as practitioners working with older people with HIV. It will also be of interest to older people living with HIV and to their friends and families. -Ageing and Society, 2004 HIV in Middle-Aged and Older Adults: Mental Health, Health, and Social Issues is a comprehensive look into the struggles that older people with HIV face. The interviews offer an insight into the complicated struggles of a segment of the HIV population that has often been forgotten. Sex and substance use are alive and well in the older population. Providers involved with the care of older people need to have in-depth information on the impact of HIV on aging. This book is a real 'eye opener' for clinicians, care managers, and anyone who makes decisions about HIV care. Donna Gallagher, Director, New England AIDS Education and Training Center, Boston, U.S.A. The interweaving of descriptive findings from teh 172 HIV+ subjects and the in-depth data from the 15 people living in Florida, along with a comprehensive application of the professional literature, enhances our understanding of the realities of aging and living with HIV/AIDS. This work is a 'must have' resource for providers and researchers interested in the lives of middle-aged and older people living with HIV/AIDS. Kathleen M. Nokes, CUNY, U.S.A. In one of the first scientific book length reports of older HIV positive people, the authors sensitively reveal the vulnerability, depression, poverty and isolation of one of the fastest growing portions of the epidemic. Their attention to these often hidden people, often living in minority communities, calls upon all of us to change our thinking about older adults and develop education, service, and support programs to address their needs. -Nathan L. Linsk, Principal Investigator, Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center, Founding Co-chair, National Association of HIV Over Fifty, University of Illinois at Chicago Aging with HIV: Mental Health and Social Issues provides us with the detailed, well-supported, and highly accessible information and recommendations we need to improve care, design programs, and develop research agendas to address the spread and treatment of HIV/AIDS in the middle-aged and elderly. The book's approach is unique to date in integrating a gerontological approach to practice and service delivery with a sound grasp of the details and significance of living with HIV. Based on a thorough assessment of the needs and experience of middle-aged and elderly Floridians living with HIV, this book covers the essential aspects of life with HIV from sexuality to HIV stigma. Each chapter covers the basic issues, includes insightful suggestions to improve clinical practice and program development, and offers recommendations for additional reading. It will be of benefit to clinicians working with this population, to researchers considering studies in this area, and to the general public coping with or assisting another to cope with HIV in later life. -Andrea Sankar, Department of Anthropology, Wayne State University

Author Information

The Louis de la Plarte Florida Mental Health Institute, University of South Florida, Department of Aging and Mental Health, Tampa, Florida, U.S.A. David Speer (Ph.D., University of Minnesota) is an associate professor and clinical research psychologist at the Florida Mental Health Institute at the University of South Florida in Tampa. His duties include consultation, education, and training services to the public mental health system for older adults, grant writing, and clinical research. Before coming to Tampa, Dr. Speer was a Post Doctoral Fellow at the University of Notre Dame from 1986 to 1988 and was an executive director of the Northeastern Center (a CMHC) in Kendallville, Indiana from 1982 to 1986. He has also served in executive positions at the Quinco Consulting Center in Columbus, Indiana and the Erie County Suicide Prevention and Crisis Services in Buffalo, New York. He has authored or co-authored 45 journal publications and is the editor of Nonverbal Communication, Sage (1972).

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