A Comparison of HIV Stigma and Disclosure Patterns Between Older and Younger Adults Living With HIV/AIDS

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between age, HIV-related stigma, and patterns of disclosure. Previous literature has suggested that older age is associated with increased HIV stigma and less disclosure of HIV status. Eighty- eight individuals, 44 between the ages of 20-39 and 44 aged 50 and over were recruited for the study through an AIDS service organization in the Pacific Northwest. Subjects in each group were matched as closely as possible by gender, ethnicity, HIV exposure and diagnosis. In a comparison of sociodemographic characteristics, older adults (50+) were significantly more likely to live alone, and to be retired. Younger adults were significantly more likely to be never married/partnered, unemployed and be recipients of Medicaid. Bivariate analysis revealed no significant differences in overall stigma scores between groups; however, younger adults were more likely to fear losing their job because of HIV. Older adults were less likely to disclose HIV to relatives, partners, mental health workers, neighbors, and church members than those 20-39 years of age. Pearson product moment correlations found disclosure to be significantly associated with time since diagnosis, heterosexual exposure, ethnicity, use of HIV services, and having a confidant. Stigma was associated with ethnicity, having a confidant, and instrumental social support. In a multiple regressions analysis, 48.4% of the variance in disclosure accounted for by time since first diagnosis, service use, and having a confidant. Service use was the only independent variable significantly associated with stigma, accounting for 21.6% of the variance

Experiences of Stigma in Older Adults Living With HIV/AIDS: A Mixed-Methods Analysis

Older adults are increasingly becoming impacted by HIV disease, both as newly infected individuals and as long-term survivors of HIV/AIDS living into older age. HIV-related stigma impacts the quality of life of all persons with HIV/AIDS. However, little is know about HIV-related stigma in older adults because many studies do not include older subjects or ignore age as a variable. This mixed methods study examined the experiences of HIV-related stigma in a sample of 25 older adults with HIV/AIDS from the Pacific Northwest. Quantitative methods measured HIV-stigma and depression, while in-depth qualitative interviews captured the lived experiences of these individuals. Stigma was positively and significantly correlated with depression (r = 0.627, p = 0.001) and stigma was found to be significantly higher in African American, as compared to white informants (_ 2 = 4.16, p = 0.041). Qualitative interviews yielded 11 themes that correspond to the four categories constructed in the stigma instrument. Rejection, disclosure concerns, stereotyping, protective silence and feeling ÒotherÓ were all common experiences of these individuals. HIV stigma should be routinely assessed when working with older, HIV infected clients and interventions should be tailored to the individual experiences of stigma

Preferential Treatment of Capital Gains in a Progressive Tax System: The Debate Continues into a New Political Era

Article published in the Michigan State University School of Law Student Scholarship Collection

Bouncing Back: Resilience and Mastery Among HIV-Positive Older Gay and Bisexual Men

Purpose of the Study:Adults with HIV infection are living into old age. It is critical we investigate positive constructs such as resilience and mastery to determine factors associated with psychological well-being. We examine HIV-related factors, adverse conditions, and psychosocial characteristics that are associated with resilience (the ability to bounce back) and mastery (sense of self-efficacy).Design and Methods:We analyzed 2014 data from the longitudinal study Aging with Pride: National Health, Aging, and Sexuality/Gender Study (NHAS), focusing on a subsample of 335 gay and bisexual older men. Multivariate linear regression was used to identify factors that contributed or detracted from resilience and mastery in the sample recruited from 17 sites from across the United States.Results:Resilience and mastery were independently associated with psychological health-related quality of life. In multivariate analysis, adjusting for demographic characteristics, previous diagnosis of depression was negatively associated with resilience. Time since HIV diagnosis was positively associated with mastery whereas victimization was negatively associated with mastery. Social support and community engagement were positively associated with both resilience and mastery.Implications:Individual and structural-environmental characteristics contributed to resilience and mastery. These findings can be used to develop interventions incorporating an increased understanding of factors that are associated with both resilience and mastery

The Importance of Social Connectedness in Building Age-Friendly Communities

The purpose of this paper is to further elucidate the importance of social relationships and social connectedness with aging in place and in developing elder-friendly communities. The process used in this study was inclusive of younger adults (age 40–65) as well as older adults (65+) in order to further understand how they envision a community that could support their own aging in place. A community forum, using the World Café format, was conducted in order to engage community members, 40 years and older, in conversation about the importance of social connectedness in elder-friendly communities. A second purpose of this forum was to obtain data on what would keep aging boomers in their community as they age. Three major themes emerged from qualitative analysis of the forum: social reciprocity, meaningful interactions, and structural needs/barriers. The results of this study reinforce the importance of social connectedness in creating and maintaining elder-friendly communities for older adults, as well as soon-to-be retired individuals, wishing to maintain life connectedness to their community. The study suggests the possibility of using more nontraditional research techniques (such as the World Café process) for gathering community level data

Offspring size effects mediate competitive interactions in a colonial marine invertebrate

Over the past 30 years, numerous attempts to understand the relationship between offspring size and fitness have been made, and it has become clear that this critical relationship is strongly affected by environmental heterogeneity. For marine invertebrates, there has been a long-standing interest in the evolution of offspring size, but there have been very few empirical and theoretical examinations of post-metamorphic offspring size effects, and almost none have considered the effect of environmental heterogeneity on the offspring size/fitness relationship. We investigated the post-metamorphic effects of offspring size in the field for the colonial marine invertebrate Botrylloides violaceus. We also examined how the relationship between offspring size and performance was affected by three different types of intraspecific competition. We found strong and persistent effects of offspring size on survival and growth, but these effects depended on the level and type of intraspecific competition.. Generally, competition strengthened the advantages of increasing maternal investment. Interestingly, we found that offspring size determined the outcome of competitive interaction: juveniles that had more maternal investment were more likely to encroach on another juvenile's territory. This suggests that mothers have the previously unrecognized potential to influence the outcome of competitive interactions in benthic marine invertebrates. We created a simple optimality model, which utilized the data generated from our field experiments, and found that increasing intraspecific competition resulted in an increase,in predicted optimal size. Our results suggest that the relationship between offspring size and fitness is highly variable in the marine environment and strongly dependent on the density of conspecifics

Portfolio assessment of children\u27s reading growth

The teaching of reading has taken a dramatic turn in the last two decades because emerging literacy is seen in a more holistic light. This concept of literacy, known as whole language, focuses on students creating their own meaning through the language processes. When educators engage in instructional development to extend the whole language concept into the school program, they consider the nature of language and emerging literacy. With this view of language in mind, reading does not simply mean decoding words but is a far more complex process. Reading is building meaning by integrating prior knowledge with new information presented by an author (Valencia, Pearson, Peters, & Wixson, 1989)