Posts related to Demographics

10 things Black Americans should know about HIV/AIDS (Black History Month)

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In honor of Black History Month, the Diverse Elders Coalition is featuring stories relevant to black aging during February. A new story will be shared every Wednesday, with additional posts shared throughout the month. Be sure to visit diverseelders.org regularly during the month of February.

February 7th is National Black HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (NBHAAD). NBHAAD is an HIV testing and treatment community mobilization initiative for Blacks in the United States with four specific focal points: Get Educated, Get Tested, Get Involved and Get Treated.

Of special note to black older adults is that 17% of new HIV diagnoses in the U.S. occur in those 50 and older. Soon older adults will represent half of those in.... Read More

             

Focus turns to aging with AIDS

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This article by Matthew S. Bajko (m.bajko@ebar.com) originally appeared in the Bay Area Reporter

As the global AIDS epidemic continues to age, greater focus is being paid to older adults living with HIV.

AIDS advocates are calling on service providers and health departments to tailor HIV prevention services, including HIV testing, to meet the needs of people aged 50 and above. And new guidelines for doctors with patients who have HIV are being released that highlight the need to focus on preventive.... Read More

             

As Parents Age, Asian-Americans Struggle to Obey a Cultural Code

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This article by Tanzina Vega originally appeared in the New York Times

SOUDERTON, Pa. — Two thick blankets wrapped in a cloth tie lay near a pillow on the red leather sofa in Phuong Lu’s living room. Doanh Nguyen, Ms. Lu’s 81-year-old mother, had prepared the blankets for a trip she wanted to take. “She’s ready to go to Vietnam,” Ms. Lu said.

But Ms. Nguyen would not be leaving. The doors were locked from the inside to prevent her from going anywhere — not into the snow that had coated the ground that day outside Ms. Lu’s suburban Philadelphia home, and certainly not to her home country,.... Read More

             

Don’t Be Left Behind: Accessibility and Mobility Challenges in an Aging Society

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At the start of October, the National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA) held a Capitol Hill advocacy day as part of its 2013 NHCOA National Summit. During the advocacy day, groups of seniors met with members of Congressional staff and told them about the lives of Hispanic older adults and the issues they faced in their communities. The staff members and Congressional offices were happy to meet with the older adults and gave them a warm welcome. Overall, everyone that took part in the event agreed that it is important to all people to have access to their elected officials.

As the advocacy day continued, walking from office to office in Capitol Hill became difficult for the seniors. While the.... Read More

             

In the Crosshairs of Health Disparities: Older Latinos, HIV and Depression

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December 1st is World AIDS Day

By Mark Brennan-Ing, PhD, Director for Research and Evaluation, ACRIA Center on HIV and Aging

Latinos are the largest and fastest growing ethnic group in the U.S., and comprise 17% of the population. They are often viewed as a monolithic group by mainstream culture. However, the term Latino, referring to people of Mexican, Central American, and South American origins, encompasses great diversity with regard to nationality, immigration history, language use, educational and occupational opportunities, and socio-economic position. These aspects of diversity also serve as indicators of social-structural determinants of health disparities (or differences in how often a disease affects people). How these social-structural determinants of health affect the lives of older Latino.... Read More

             

Not All Asians Are the Same: Diversity within the AAPI Older Adult Population

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When our nation talks about Asian Americans, it often groups together people from different cultures and those who speak different languages. Someone from China faces different challenges than a refugee from Cambodia, yet research typically wouldn’t show this. As a group, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (AAPIs) are the fastest growing population in the United States. Despite the large and rapidly growing population, research and data on AAPI elders is limited and often presented in aggregate (i.e. grouped together). Aggregate data belies the diversity and the challenges faced within the AAPI older adult population.

The National Asian Pacific Center on Aging (NAPCA) recently published five reports that paint a fuller and more accurate picture of the challenges many.... Read More

             

Open Letter to Health Reform Advocates: Pay Attention to Discrimination

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The harms inflicted by discrimination reveal themselves in our bodies as we age — as people of color, as poor and low-income people, and as lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people. The symptoms manifest as higher rates of high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, heart disease, HIV/AIDS, depression, social isolation and more. In medical charts throughout the country, our bodies record what it means to survive a life shaped by perpetual poverty, higher concentrations in low-wage jobs with no health insurance, thin retirement options and inadequate protections in the workplace. They depict our fractured relationships to health care — from cultural and linguistic barriers to overt bias and discrimination from health and aging providers, to a long-held, hard-earned distrust of.... Read More

             

National Grandparents Day – Grandparents Contributing More Despite Numerous Challenges

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Since 1978, when the first Sunday following Labor Day was designated “National Grandparents Day“, the number of grandparents in the U.S. has been growing from 40 million (1980) to 65 million (2011) to an estimated 80 million (2020). Over time the roles of grandparents, especially those among diverse elder populations, have also shifted. Grandparents are now providing important caregiving support, raising our children, and are the backbone of multi-generational families.

Grandparents living in multi-generational households often face numerous challenges. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 2.7 million grandparents are responsible for the basic needs of one or more grandchildren under.... Read More

             

Language, Idioma, 語, ភាសា: Speaking limited English can pose unique challenges for older people

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According to the Census Bureau, about 20% of people speak a language other than English at home. That’s 1 in 5 people! And over the years, this number has only grown. The Census Bureau has developed a map that shows in which parts of the country these people live. What the map shows is that there are people whose preferred language is not English in all but the most sparsely populated parts of the country. Language access is a civil right, and these rights are reflected in federal law. It is also becoming more common to see instructions on packages, advertisements, and other messages translated into languages other than English, as well. When it comes to language.... Read More

             

Addressing the Needs of LGBT Hispanic Older Adults in the U.S

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With the rapid growth of our diverse population, our country is becoming more beautiful than ever. But unfortunately, there are still some groups that are not well understood by the nation’s service providers, or by local, state and federal governments. One of those groups is lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) older adults. And in order to better understand the reality of this diverse community, the National Hispanic Council on Aging (NHCOA) conducted an analysis through a literature review, focus groups (one was held at The SAGE Center; SAGE is fellow member organization of the Diverse Elders Coalition) and in-depth interviews with LGBT Hispanic older adults, including the service providers who work with.... Read More

             

Untold stories of Asian & Pacific Islander LGBT Elders: “I think the need to be accepted overcame their need to be themselves.”

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Three things to know as May ends and we look towards June:

May is Older Americans Month. It’s also Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) Heritage Month. And I work for the country’s largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) older adults.

So, what does this mean?

Well, for me, it made me really think: What are the stories being told about older LGBT AAPI people? Are they even being told? Outside of the amazing George Takei, I can’t think of another prominent openly gay Asian American older person. Can you?

I am Puerto Rican, gay and not yet 30 years old, so.... Read More

             

Infographic: LGBT Health, Racial Disparities, and Aging—by the Numbers

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Download the infographic LGBT Health, Racial Disparities, and Aging—By the Numbers, today!

Americans who are people of color, older adults and LGBT identified (referred to in this blog post as LGBT elders of color) often have unique needs because of the intersections of identities. LGBT elders of color are historically marginalized on multiple fronts and their needs are often under addressed in the mainstream aging field and in the popular LGBT rights.... Read More

             
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