As people living with HIV get older, they often face an accelerated onset of aging-related conditions. When identified early, these can be managed – and even ameliorated, says ACRIA at GMHC Director Christopher Culp. To do that, GMHC is piloting a Healthy Aging guide to empower older people living with HIV to advocate for the healthcare they need.
At a time when over half the people living with HIV are aged 50 and above, GMHC’s ACRIA Centers for HIV and Aging are needed more than ever. Older adults living with HIV face unique circumstances, yet the healthcare providers and community groups that serve them often do not know much about their issues, said ACRIA Centers at GMHC Director Christopher Culp.
GMHC has dramatically expanded its mental health and substance use services since Chet Balram, Managing Director for Mental Health and Substance Use, and his colleague Keila Morales, Managing Director of Clinic Operations, joined the agency three years ago with that mandate.
Each year on September 18, researchers, health care providers, and communities around the country observe National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day. Established in 2008 by the AIDS Institute, NHAAD raises awareness to the challenges faced by aging populations who live with HIV, which include: HIV prevention, treatment and care; and HIV-related comorbidities, coinfections, and other complications.
GMHC’s signature Buddy Program, which pairs a client living with HIV with a volunteer who can offer emotional support, requires a one-year commitment, but Rudy
David Pais’ life so far has been an unwitting pilgrimage. “Everything that’s happened to me in my life has not been planned. I’m being led,”
Since 1995, Christopher Austopchuk, Sony Music’s longtime creative director, has been giving to GMHC in a fittingly creative way. Every year he sends a holiday