HIV / AIDS

Finding a Place to Call Home: Dr. Dio Gica Talks SAGE, Pride Month, and Housing for LGBT Older Adults

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It’s LGBT Pride Month, and we’re celebrating all month long with a series of interviews with staff at SAGE || Advocacy and Services for LGBT Elders. Today’s interview is with Dr. Diosdado Gica, Chief Program Officer. Dio presented with the Diverse Elders Coalition during the 2017 Aging in America conference in Chicago, IL. Here he talks about Pride Month, intersectionality, and what it means to have a safe place to call your home.

What is your role with SAGE?
I am SAGE’s Chief Program Officer, and in addition to managing the direct services we provide here in.... Read More

             

Now Available: SAGE Health Storylines Self-Care App

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This post originally appeared on the SAGE blog.

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The SAGE Health Storylines self-care app makes it easy for older adults and caregivers to track their health. When you open the app, you will see a variety of tools including medication tracker, daily moods and symptom tracker which allow you to build your health story. The My Storylines feature allows you to learn more about your health, and to share more – safely and securely – with your doctor about what happened between visits.

This app was designed in partnership with.... Read More

             

Fighting for Our Lives – Again!

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by Hank Trout. Hank is a 63-year-old gay writer and a 27-year long-term survivor of HIV/AIDS. He has lived in San Francisco since 1980, for the last 12 years with his fiancé Rick. Since January 2016 he has been a Contributing Writer and Columnist for A&U: America’s AIDS Magazine, contributing features, book and art reviews, and a bi-monthly column “For the Long Run,” in which he addresses the issues faced by surviving members of the AIDS Generation. You can read more of Hank’s writing at http://www.hanktrout.wrestlerswob.com.

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Recently, I marched with.... Read More

             

What LGBT Seniors Stand to Lose in ACA Repeal

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This post originally appeared on the Center for Consumer Engagement in Health Innovation website.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) older adults face many of the same health and aging challenges other older adults face, but more pronounced. As a result, they are arguably more at risk if the incoming administration and Congress repeals the Affordable Care Act (ACA) without a replacement plan and/or makes significant and harmful changes to Medicaid and Medicare.

LGBT older adults face unique risks within the health care system due to the standard issues facing an aging population combined with their sexual orientation or gender identity, such as:

Aging Combined with Discrimination: Similar to the older population in general, LGBT older adults.... Read More
             

Where Bigotry is Denied Entrance—Fighting HIV/AIDS Stigma in Housing

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by Pat Lin. This post originally appeared on the SAGE blog.

On World AIDS Day, it’s important to commemorate how far we’ve come since the HIV/AIDS pandemic started. HIV isn’t the death sentence it used to be, but many long-term survivors of HIV continue to pay an emotional, physical and financial toll. In addition to managing the disease, HIV survivors still face stigma. As they get older and the effects of the disease compound the challenges of aging, they become more vulnerable. As the nation’s largest and oldest organization serving LGBT older adults, Services and Advocacy for GLBT Elders (SAGE) seeks to eradicate the stigma around HIV and to create welcoming spaces for long-term HIV survivors.

.... Read More
             

Telling Our Stories for World AIDS Day 2016

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wad2016_cropEach year on December 1st, we join millions of individuals and organizations around the globe in commemorating World AIDS Day. The prevention of HIV/AIDS – as well as the continued care of those living with HIV – has always been a top priority for the Diverse Elders Coalition and the communities we represent.

In 2014, we released our policy brief, “Eight Policy Recommendations for Improving the Health and Wellness of Older Adults with HIV,” recommendations for which we continue to fight and advocate today. In 2015, we created an infographic, Facts and Factors: HIV and Diverse.... Read More

             

Why Mary’s House? (Again.)

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People often ask me, “Why do we need a place for LGBT older people to live? Don’t we have enough nursing homes and retirement homes for them to use?”

So I often share the story of John, a well-to-do gay elder who was found deceased — in his welcoming, upscale retirement complex. He had stopped going to church. He had stopped playing cards and going to the clubs. He had stopped interacting with his friends.

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Or I sometimes share the sorrow of my older friend, Helen, who after the death of her partner, was asked by her partner’s siblings to leave the.... Read More

             

Commemorating National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day 2016

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logo-national-hiv-aging-awareness-badgeEach year on September 18th, we commemorate National HIV/AIDS and Aging Awareness Day, a chance to recognize that HIV/AIDS impacts people of all ages, including adults over 50. In fact, by the year 2020, more than 70% of people living with HIV in the United States will be age 50 or older, and 18% of new HIV diagnoses occur among people over 50. It is important to promote both HIV prevention among older adults as well as support the health and social needs of those who are living with the disease.

The Diverse Elders Coalition has a number of resources available on our website.... Read More

             

Passages

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by Harry Breaux, a member of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation‘s Elizabeth Taylor 50+ Network. Harry turned 71 on March 21, 2016. He is one of the long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS featured in the documentary “Last Men Standing.” This documentary, the first by the San Francisco Chronicle, will premiere tonight at the Castro Theater in San Francisco.

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Recently I found myself upset with a friend and realized how small my life had become. Years ago, I was educated to be a successful something-or-other, and I tried for years to accomplish that very goal. However, once I.... Read More

             

National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day

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This post, in honor of National Women and Girls HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (March 10th) comes from Maria Eugenia Lane of NHCOA.

Women and girls are often an overlooked population in the fight against HIV/AIDS. Yet, about one-quarter of Americans living with HIV are women and girls. Tragically, many of these women and girls are youth or older adults. Today, about 26% of new HIV diagnoses are youth aged 13-24 and about 25% of those living with HIV are adults aged 55 and older.

The importance in preventing HIV among women and girls is recognized each year on March 10 through the National Women and Girls HIV Awareness Day. It is important for the health and happiness.... Read More

             
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