Plea for elderly HIV patients

Monday June 16th, 2014

A generation of people is entering old age infected with HIV, a conference heard yesterday.

Many are facing stigma, anxiety and "lack of awareness" of their problems from health staff, according to nurses.

Nurses will be urged to be "sensible and sensitive" in dealing with these people when the Royal College of Nursing meets for its annual conference in Liverpool, UK.

About 20% of people living with HIV in the UK are now over the age of 50, the conference is to be told.

Nurses say health care workers lacking training in dealing with these people - and many have severe financial problems.

Ian Lamb, aged 61, from Blackpool, was diagnosed as infected in 1996.

Mr Lamb said: "When I was diagnosed having HIV meant you were going to die, and that is how I lived my life, racking up enormous debts which I am still paying off.

"The attitudes towards HIV haven’t really changed in some parts of the country from when I was first diagnosed twenty years ago – it is just more subtle and less noticeable now. After twenty years I still have to be careful who I tell or what I say."

Dr Rosemary Gillespie, chief executive of the Terrence Higgins Trust, said: "As the 100,000 people living with HIV in this country grow older, many of them will face a number of related health issues. They will be looking to healthcare staff to treat their condition sensibly and sensitively."

Jason Warriner, chair of the RCN's public health forum, said: “There is a silent generation of people living with HIV who don’t feel comfortable attending support groups or talking about their diagnosis. It is every health care worker’s responsibility to reach out to these people.

“There must be greater training and support for staff to ensure that people living with HIV do not face stigma or misinformation when they are using the health service.”

Tags: Elderly Health | Flu & Viruses | Nursing & Midwifery | UK News

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