Religion, Spirituality, and Older Adults With HIV: Critical Personal and Social Resources For An Aging Epidemic

May 2011 | David E. Vance, Mark Brennan, Comfort Enah, Glenda L. Smith, Jaspreet Kaur

Download PDF Go to Web Site

“"With this upward shift in the age of people living with HIV, it is important to consider ways to promote successful aging in the growing population."”

Religious involvement and spirituality have been observed to promote successful aging in the general population and help those with HIV cope with their disease, but little is known about how these resources may affect aging with HIV. This paper presents a model of barriers to successful aging with HIV, along with a discussion of how spirituality and religiousness may help people overcome these barriers. From this synthesis, implications for practice and research to improve the quality of life of this aging population are provided.