Improved medicine allows more people with HIV to grow older.
Many people with HIV over 50 years are worried about both the health- and life situation. Several ask also about how the caretakers for the elderly will handle their needs.
This comes from a pilot study by the research organization FAFO, performed by researcher Arne Backer Grønningsæter.
According to the Institute for Public Health, 5848 people in Norway were HIV-positive at the end of 2015. Between 40 and 50 percent of these are probably over 50 years old.
Health and living conditions for elderly people with HIV are therefore an increasingly hot topic. As older you are the more dependent on others for care you become, and therefore more vulnerable.
The FAFO researcher Arne Backer Grønningsæter has asked a group of HIV-positive people over 50 years what are their concerns.
The answers ranged from the danger of loneliness for caretakers ability to take care of elderly people with HIV.
A very specific concern in this context is lack of knowledge on the interaction between HIV infection and age-related diseases.
The project is performed with support from the organization HivNorge.
Source: FAFO / Norway Today
