Biography
Background: Literature pertaining to the elderly shows that HIV infection among this population is on the increase, suggesting that the elderly population engages in risky activities for HIV infection. Ageing with HIV in Africa is made more difficult because of stigma from all quarters. ageist and sexist attitudes perpetuates the myth that the elderly are asexual, evident in the fact that health care providers do not ask specific questions related to related to assessing risk to infections. The South African national data on HIV prevalence for the 50 years and above age group shows the increase to be 6.7% for the 50 – 60+ year age. HIV infection in older persons presents unique challenges as ageing itself puts older persons at an even greater risk for HIV infection. While there is evidence that people over 50 are more likely than their younger counterparts to adhere to antiretroviral therapy. there is also evidence that adherence can suffer when individual’s experiences challenges.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe the experiences of older person infected with HIV and its impact on the adherence to ART
Methods: Ten in-depth individual interviews yielded qualitative data that were analysed for the study. Participants were purposively selected.
Ethical consideration: Participation was voluntary, with options of withdrawing from the study at any time during the process of data collection. Participants were given assurance of confidentiality, and anonymity in reporting the findings.
Data analysis: NVivo qualitative data analysis package was used to analyse the data.
Findings: Themes extracted from the findings were mainly categorised into: Dealing with the diagnosis, stigma, lack of financial resources, support to comply with medication
Recommendations: Older persons in the studied community offered their experiences of being infected with HIV. These experiences were perceived within the attitude of ageism and stigmatisation which impacted on their adherence to ART. Recommendations were provided to include empowerment of elderly and education of the community including health care providers.
Lekalakala-Mokgele, E.
Paper
Double stigma, multiple challenges faced by older persons infected with HIV: how can I adhere to my Antiretroviral Therapy (ART)?
Background: Literature pertaining to the elderly shows that HIV infection among this population is on the increase, suggesting that the elderly population engages in risky activities for HIV infection. Ageing with HIV in Africa is made more difficult because of stigma from all quarters. ageist and sexist attitudes perpetuates the myth that the elderly are asexual, evident in the fact that health care providers do not ask specific questions related to related to assessing risk to infections. The South African national data on HIV prevalence for the 50 years and above age group shows the increase to be 6.7% for the 50 – 60+ year age. HIV infection in older persons presents unique challenges as ageing itself puts older persons at an even greater risk for HIV infection. While there is evidence that people over 50 are more likely than their younger counterparts to adhere to antiretroviral therapy. there is also evidence that adherence can suffer when individual’s experiences challenges.
Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to explore and describe the experiences of older person infected with HIV and its impact on the adherence to ART
Methods: Ten in-depth individual interviews yielded qualitative data that were analyzed for the study. Participants were purposively selected.
Ethical consideration: Participation was voluntary, with options of withdrawing from the study at any time during the process of data collection. Participants were given assurance of confidentiality, and anonymity in reporting the findings.
Data analysis: NVivo qualitative data analysis package was used to analzse the data.
Findings: Themes extracted from the findings were mainly categorized into: Dealing with the diagnosis, stigma, lack of financial resources, support to comply with medication
Recommendations: Older persons in the studied community offered their experiences of being infected with HIV. These experiences were perceived within the attitude of ageism and stigmatization which impacted on their adherence to ART. Recommendations were provided to include empowerment of elderly and education of the community including health care providers.
