Experts Establish Pillars of Care for Older Adults With HIV
(MedPage Today) -- Faced with an aging population with HIV, clinicians will need to help these older patients navigate a healthy route from antiretroviral therapy (ART) initiation through complex comorbidities to an increased focus on maintaining...
A new report from The Lancet HIV Commission outlines three phases for managing older adults living with HIV: establishing a therapeutic alliance, maintaining health despite complex conditions, and prioritizing patient preferences for preserving cognitive and physical capacities. Researchers emphasize the importance of tailoring public health HIV prevention messages to older people, as they are 200-400% more likely to experience delayed HIV diagnosis and treatment compared to younger individuals.
Older patients with HIV are at higher risk of cardiovascular disease, liver disease, and some cancers at earlier ages than those without HIV.
Clinicians must remember that physiological age and chronological age differ significantly for people with HIV, as antiretroviral therapy (ART) has extended survival. The report encourages clinicians to support ART adherence, mental health, a healthy lifestyle, and self-care throughout the process. The first phase focuses on building a therapeutic relationship with older patients initiating ART, addressing substance use, reduced self-care, and screening and treatment.
The second phase combines the management of chronic HIV with the prevention, screening, and treatment of comorbid diseases and monitoring a patient's physiological age. The final phase emphasizes focusing on individual patient preferences for receiving care, conducting a comprehensive geriatric assessment, and planning for end-of-life care.
Written by urgent.news from MedPage Today's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
