Review
"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
From the Back Cover
"Aging with HIV: Psychological, Social, and Health 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 the 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
Although the percentage of total HIV cases attributed to older adults is increasing, we know little about how the disease affects them. From providing appropriate medical and social services to combating ageism and social discrimination, health and social services workers can significantly increase their effectiveness if they recognize the differences between HIV/AIDS in younger and older people.
This study uses a broad, interview-based survey of people living with HIV over the age of 45 in the West Central Florida area. Encompassing demographics, health, treatment, accessed services and patients' social lives and mental health, its quantitative and qualitative data offers a thorough and useful profile of older adults with HIV.
