Behavioral Health

In this chapter, we will describe the state of the literature on behavioral health, which includes mental health and substance use problems, and the available treatment interventions to ameliorate these problems, for older adults living with HIV (OALH). The scientific literature on the behavioral health of OALH is highly underdeveloped, especially in terms of the creation of empirically supported interventions to alleviate psychological distress. From the literature that does exist, there are a number of salient factors that emerge, including stereotypes (i.e., older adults are not sexually active), stigmatization (of those who are HIV-positive), social isolation, unique psychosocial needs for newly-infected OALH, and elevated rates of emotional distress and concomitant disorders - especially, depression. These factors persist alongside findings that OALH have fewer sources of social or institutional support, fewer surviving peers, and a lack of family to care for them. Additionally, many OALH report problems with substance use, both as a function of their 'baby-boomer' generational status (i.e., people born between 1946 and 1964) and in terms of the life experiences associated with their HIV-positive status. Overall, it is unclear how mental health and substance use problems affect combination antiretroviral therapy adherence, multimorbidity, polypharmacy, or treatment outcomes in this population, and further study is needed.