HIV moves into Nursing Homes

[tenni]

http://www.healthzone.ca/health/newsfeatures/article/945588--when-hiv-moves-into-nursing-homes?bn=1

I was reading the above article on long term HIV people and what is happening to them as some are entering early dementia but still living long term. They are ending up in nursing homes in their 40's, 50's and 60's. This is forcing them to live with people in their 80's. Even though both may have dementia, the older people are rejecting them.

We don't really seem to talk about HIV on this site beyond , don't fuck around or you might get it....lol Accusations about spreading HIV to spouses etc.

Do the posters on this site have much impact on their lives from HIV? Do they really care? Maybe, posters have more pressing concerns for this site?

I know a few people in my art world who have HIV. I don't talk to them about it. They appear healthy and I'm not that close to them. The artworld was horribly impacted by HIV with a lot of artsies dying in the early days. It reacted with campaigns, exhibitions, fund raising etc. Today, since people are living longer, there isn't a lot of visible concern although there is still fund raising. As the article points out, there is more organizational strategy happening that tries to support people living with HIV.

Anyway, you may find the article of some interest.

What are your thoughts?

[elian]

There is a reason I try to limit my partners. I went with a friend to visit a male couple that he knows, they brought out a photo album and just about every page was "Do you remember that guy?"

I know a few folks with HIV, very nice folks but it would be a mistake to say that the medications and the illness don't take a toll. Getting old can be rough, but it happens to everyone - add HIV into the picture and well, some very heartbreaking things to go through, at least from what I've heard.

At least in Canada they allow folks with HIV in the nursing home, here in the US I think most of the facilities are private - I'm not comforted by the thought of anyone suffering so much and not even having a place to call home.

[parkwings]

Notice that most people on this site resist commenting on serious topics- such as this?

Don't expect intellectual discussion here.

[tenni]

I suck
Interesting information. I doubt that anyone would go into a nursing home unless they had to. The article references people in their 40's, 50's & 60's as having to go into a nursing home because their HIV dementia forces them to. They are no longer able to work and yet may not have any pension other than a disability pension. They also are going to live probably longer than many elderly who go into nursing homes.

You write that there was an article about people living with HIV and dementia being discussed several years ago in NY. I'm not sure if it is a difference in how health care is dealt with between our two societies or not but how was it resolved? I'm not 100% certain but in Ontario where the article is written, anyone who needs to go into a nursing home, first must provide monthly payment which is thousands of dollars. If they do not have the resources the province and municipality pay the difference. People use their pensions to pay for nursing care. Someone in their 40's or 50's with HIV dementia will not have any pension and so the fund must be found.

Beyond the fiscal issues, there is a need to alter standard practices as the article told of the man cutting himself and the staff person reacting verbally. Obviously, the staff reacted inappropriately as the information was out then that he had HIV and people who had accepted him rejected him at the dining table.

Now, a lot of nursing homes are private for profit rather than state run. Some are a place that I would rather not be placed in even though their are regulations. I'd say that the better ones are state or city run.

The article referenced how many nursing homes were not accepting people with HIV dementia. There seems to be a hole in the health care nursing homes as they seem ill equipped to deal long term(decades or unknown) with such patients.

On the positive side there are institutions like Toronto's Casey House which are attempting to deal with the situation. Casey House was initially created as a hospice for AID's patients who died within weeks of arriving. As the article referenced one man has remained their with HIV dementia for more than two years. The care needs are different but it looks like Casey House is expanding its mandate to try to deal with the new issues that HIV dementia is bringing. It looks like they are planning special new locations just for HIV dementia people. Isolate or integrate? Isolated care may be able to deal with the long term HIV dementia patients better but not all communities have sufficient numbers of HIV dementia patients to build and finance such institutions.

Since New York has a large population, they may be able to create institutions just for HIV demenia? There may be sufficient numbers of HIV dementia patients to do this. Do you know what New York did?

[elian]

I have heard of one or two institutions like that here in the states, sort of like a care home for folks who have AIDS.

Taking care of someone with dementia is hard. Until our society fundamentally changes the way we think about and view those with chronic illness and the elderly I imagine that resources will remain scarce. Whether Darwin was right or not a capitalistic society favors those who are "strong".

Those people fighting a debilitating disease such as cancer are also strong, but they are strong in a different way - one that is not valued by the advertising and marketing machine that so prevalently controls every drop of media in this country.