Primary Education Topic:
Spirituality & Religion
Other Education Topics:
Health & Wellness
Healthcare & Aging
In Part Three of a three-part series in Aging Today on HIV/AIDS in older adults, David Vance addresses how aging with HIV/AIDS affects—and is affected by—spirituality and religion.
By David E. Vance
An HIV-positive friend of mine who is gay attends a conservative church. He has been a member of this congregation for more than 40 years, really likes the people and is dedicated to his beliefs. Yet the other day he told me that he sometimes feels invisible there. When his family visits, the pastor publicly acknowledges them, but seems to forget to mention my friend’s name.