September 2023 Newsletter

Supporting Older Adults Living with HIV

On September 18th we honor National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day. This day brings attention to the growing number of older adults living with HIV. The 50 and older group is the fastest growing population with HIV. In 2018, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported persons aged 50 and older accounted for approximately:

• 17% of new HIV diagnoses

• 47% of all persons living with HIV

• 71% of all deaths of persons with diagnosed HIV infection

Here in Virginia about 35% of people living with HIV are over the age of 50.

Older adults are often late to get diagnosed due to stigma and age discrimination. Many healthcare providers do not talk with older adults about testing or safe sex practices. Older adults living with HIV are also more likely to face mental health challenges and complications from other age-related health conditions.

Below are some tips for professionals to better support older adults living with HIV:

Get comfortable talking about sex. If you are not comfortable talking about it, your clients won't be comfortable talking to you about it.
Understand the basics of how HIV is transmitted.
Recognize and challenge ageist ideas you may hold about older adults and sex.
Consider a client or their partner's HIV status when safety planning.
Partner with local clinics and healthcare providers.

Learn more about supporting older adults with and at risk for HIV.

Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model

On July 31, 2023, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new voluntary nationwide model – the Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience (GUIDE) Model – a model test that aims to support people living with dementia and their unpaid caregivers. CMS is accepting letters of interest for the GUIDE Model through September 15, 2023, and will release a GUIDE Request for Applications (RFA) for the model in Fall 2023. The model will launch on July 1, 2024, and run for eight years.

The GUIDE Model will focus on dementia care management and aims to improve quality of life for people living with dementia, reduce strain on their unpaid caregivers, and enable people living with dementia to remain in their homes and communities. It will achieve these goals through care coordination, care management, caregiver education and support, and respite services.

Learn more about the GUIDE Model.

Upcoming Events

Webinar: Silence Isn’t Golden

September 28, 10am

Organized by the Southwest Virginia Aid Society

Silence Isn’t Golden is a public education and awareness campaign in Southwest Virginia that focuses on elder abuse by defining elder abuse and using national and regional data of elder abuse statistics to convey the alarming numbers of neglect, mental, physical, and financial exploitation cases we have in the United States. Furthermore, we will discuss avenues of prevention strategies and reasons why elder abuse is so prevalent.

Virginia Coalition for the

Prevention of Elder Abuse

PO Box 70054

Henrico, VA 23255