Research

Title: An Exploratory Study of Social Support Among HIV-Infected Elders SSW Investigator: Charles Arthur Emlet PI

Description

Research Question and Significance: Older adults comprise a significant portion of individuals throughout the United States who have been diagnosed with HIV/AIDS. Historically, society has viewed HIV/AIDS as a young person’s disease. Because of this view, older adults who are infected or affected by HIV/AIDS have received little attention from researchers or policy makers. Little research has been done to date that differentiates the types and extent of social support systems between older and younger persons with HIV/AIDS. As those infected with HIV live longer, the numbers of older persons infected with this disease will increase. The following research questions are being explored in this project: 1) what differences exist in the sources, amounts and functions of social support between older (50+) and younger persons living with HIV/AIDS? 2) What personal and situational factors area associated with differences in social support? 3) What role does stigma play in the social support systems of these individuals?

Funding Sources: The Hartford Foundation and Gerontological Society of America Start/End Dates: through December 2004