Bulletin Board
Whatever will happen to HIV-positive seniors over the next few years, we will not only have medical treatment needs, but also social and care needs.
Garry Brough, who works for the Terrence Higgins Trust (THT), gave the third presentation at the community symposium. He ran through the findings from the 50 Plus survey that THT and Age UK (the new charity arising from the merger of Help the Aged and Age Concern) conducted and which THT’s Lisa Power wrote about in HTU this July (see Will a long life be a good one? in issue 198).
“We need better links between the NHS and social care services,” says Brough, “and better preventative programmes to help people live healthier, fitter and longer lives.
“We should especially concentrate on exercise,” he adds. “This is one of the very few things that makes a real difference to most heart problems, bone density, blood pressure, cholesterol levels and depression, as well as helping to reduce social isolation.” Studies have also shown that exercise, in both middle7 and old8 age, can cut the prevalence of dementia by 40 to 50%.
The prescription for healthy living in old age for people with HIV is, then, the same as it is for everyone. Don’t smoke, don’t stress, do exercise well, eat well, and think well. Remain interested in life and it will remain interested in you.