Older adults with HIV/AIDS face a unique situation: They not only must cope with the disease, but grapple with the mental, physical and social changes that come with aging, such as retirement and the loss of family and friends, Heckman noted. "A lot is happening all at once, and it's very difficult to cope with," he said.
The telephone support group allowed older adults with HIV/AIDS to connect with people with similar experiences, said Lori Brown, a licensed social worker who moderated several of the phone sessions from the project's home base in Athens, Ohio. Some older women, for example, discussed issues such as menopause, lack of a romantic partner and relationships with children with other women. In another support group, three participants who successfully underwent psychiatric treatment encouraged a fourth caller to seek professional counseling. And those who have lived with HIV/AIDS for many years offer hope to adults recently diagnosed with the disease, Brown noted. "They often don't have people in their own communities who have these same problems," she said. "They find comfort in having someone to talk to."
Participants in the phone intervention also sought to establish relationships outside of the group exchanging cards, letters and e-mails and meeting in person, Heckman and Brown said. "I was surprised how well they responded, never having met face to face," Brown said. "I think it was because of the safety of the telephone." Heckman and his colleagues plan to continue the project using a larger, more geographically diverse sample of older adults with HIV/AIDS.
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Contact: Andrea Gibson
gibsona@ohio.edu
740-597-2166
Ohio University
2-Sep-2003