During this World AIDS Day meeting, Gregg Cassin, a longtime advocate and HIV Health Counselor, led us into a moment of reflection, followed by a policy and advocacy update by SFAF’s Director of Health Justice Policy, Jonathan Frochtzwajg.

We had an engaging panel & community discussion on Aging and HIV thanks to Dr. Brad Hare, Andrew Guttierez III, Betsy Ponce, and Chip Supanich. The Committee will follow up on several of the recommendations made during the meeting. If you’d like to join the committee or have additional input, please let us know. The GTZ-SF Aging & HIV Committee is led by co-chairs Vincent Crisostomo and Paul Aguilar.

Slides from the evening are here. 

A new on-demand HIV & Aging curriculum for providers – Learning for Longevity: Educating Providers to Support HIV & Aging Communities – is available here. 

Below are some recommendations shared during the discussion:

• Enhance outreach and program development for underserved groups/people who have historically received fewer services. (women, immigrants, caregivers).
• Develop and disseminate caretaking curriculum to train new providers in culturally competent care for older HIV-positive adults.
• Facilitate mentorship between veteran community members and new providers to transfer lived experiences and practical knowledge.
• Bring community voices and real-world stories to medical trainees to foster empathy, understanding, and encourage more young providers to enter HIV care. Provide platforms for storytelling to educate both providers and the broader community, and motivate systemic change.
• Plan and advocate for long-term care tailored to the aging HIV-positive population.
• Investigate and support programs that acknowledge the role of pets and mental health in the well-being of older adults with HIV.
• Tailor substance use services and harm reduction approaches to older individuals living with HIV.
• Actively address challenges/issues identified in needs assessments. Frequent needs assessments hamper progress and innovation by their significant time and resource requirements, and the predictable data and indecisive conclusions.