Improving Healthcare for People Aging with HIV
By the end of 2019, more than 27% of people living with HIV in New York City were 60 or older, and that percentage is increasing. Although this aging demographic represents a remarkable achievement in HIV care, these individuals have seen accentuated aging, with more comorbidities at a younger than expected age as well as a heavier burden of psychiatric illness. Their social networks may be fragile and often unable to provide adequate support, while the social service agencies that assist them may often lack the resources to meet their needs as they age.
In 2015, Weill Cornell Medicine’s Division of Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine received generous support from the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation to create an HIV and Aging program in collaboration with Weill Cornell’s Center for Special Studies (CSS), which provides clinically active and highly respected HIV care.
Our program, which has continued support from the Wayen Family Foundation, features:
- Geriatric consultation for people with HIV who receive care at CSS and elsewhere
- Primary care of older people with HIV at the Center on Aging
- Education through the Northeast Caribbean AIDS Education and Training Center (NeCa-AETC) and other state and national programs regarding aging and HIV
- Collaborative research with colleagues in the Division of Infectious Diseases to improve the care of older people with HIV.