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Date of Report:
06/2010
Source:
New England AETC
The New England AIDS Education and Training Center (NEAETC) in collaboration with the New England Association on HIV over Fifty (NEAHOF) has been committed to highlighting the needs of patients aging with HIV and their providers by facilitating an HIV Over Fifty Regional Update Conference annually.
Interest in the aging HIV patient has long been on the minds of some consumers and providers. As far back as 1996, a national group was organized to address the topic known as the National Association on HIV Over Fifty (NAHOF). One of the co-chairs of this group Nathan Linsk, Principal Investigator of the Midwest AIDS Training and Education Center (MATEC) along with Jane Fowler (consumer) provided the leadership. Donna Gallagher, Principal Investigator of NEAETC, quickly joined the group resulting in several collaborative efforts between the two AETCs and the NAHOF. These efforts kept the topic alive for the many years that it has taken to reach center stage. NEAHOF is the local New England offspring of the national group. NEAETC has imbedded in its mission statement the commitment to work in partnership with People Living With HIV from the New England Communities when planning HIV related events. The Annual HIV Over Fifty Update Conference is a stellar example
of these partnerships.
Jim Campbell, past president of NAHOF, current president of the NEAHOF as well as consumer faculty for NEAETC, along with Shirley Royster, NEAETC consumer faculty, work with Jim Meenaghan and Kelly Fattman to create an exciting, informative program each year that highlights and translates current science, treatment and care issues regarding over fifty patients living with HIV.
As we enter the 4th decade of HIV, it is clear that managing HIV in people over 50 is fast becoming the norm. In New England, more than 50% of people with HIV are over fifty. In addition, approximately 11% of newly diagnosed patients are over fifty. The HIV education platforms, materials, and training opportunities regarding the aging HIV patient have been slow coming over the past three decades of disease. However, we now see HIV and Aging as a topic of growing interest around the world. This was demonstrated by the presence of abstracts, posters, and sessions addressing the topic at the recent International AIDS Conference in Vienna. In the US, it is predicted that over 50% of the "baby boomers" with HIV will need aging services placing a new burden on an already stressed system. We have five years to prepare the system and the providers for this tsunami of need. The persistent efforts and leadership of the New England team along with other staff members,
collaborators and volunteers in the New England Region has elevated this once small gathering of interested providers, patients, and policy makers to a national level.
The production of this conference requires a year round effort from Jim Campbell, Jim Meenaghan, Kelly Fattman Shirley Royster, and the many other NEAETC faculty and staff as they reach out to the Departments of Public Health AIDS Bureaus, The Councils on Aging, AARP, and assorted Aging services groups as well as legislators and potential funders of the event. Thanks to the efforts of this committed group this event has grown from an initial event of less than 50 in 2005 to over 200 and growing in 2010.
This year the conference will take place at the John F. Kennedy Library in Boston, MA on September 17, 2010.
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