HIV Age Positively Grantees
Through the Age Positively initiative, Gilead will award more than $17.5 million in grants to 30 organizations to support programs focused on improving the quality of life and health of those aging with HIV. Grantee organizations are working to improve care coordination, increase resources for well-being and educate and inform policy.
Improve Care Coordination
Borrego Community Health Foundation
Borrego Health, a 24-hour clinic FQHC in Southern California serving more than 1000 HIV+ persons, will implement an integrated, collaborative care program for older PLWHA with co-occurring methamphetamine use disorder (MUD). Through collaboration with experts at UCLA and UCSD, Borrego and other providers in the Palm Springs area will receive training in geriatric medicine and Getting Off, an evidence-based MUD treatment developed for gay/bi men.
Family Health Centers of San Diego, Inc.
FHCSD aims to demonstrate the effectiveness of an interdisciplinary team-based intervention among people living with HIV ages 50 and older, including whole-patient care management, self-management group visits and in-home visits (as determined by patient acuity). FHCSD will evaluate changes in engagement in care and chronic disease clinical indicators, and we aim to replicate and disseminate best practices across our other clinic sites and among other Ryan White HIV medical providers.
HealthHIV
HealthHIV proposes an innovative, comprehensive, scalable program titled "Pozitively Aging" to ultimately improve health outcomes and overall well-being among aging people living with HIV (PLWH). The program focuses on care coordination enhancement and health system policy improvements through strategic data collection, synergistic medical and consumer education, innovative patient empowerment training, creative awareness building, inventive capacity sustainability and meaningful evaluation.
Hektoen Institute on behalf of Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center
CHAI 2.0 (CORE Healthy Aging Initiative) expansion project will focus on the HIV-positive population of the Ruth M. Rothstein CORE Center over the age of 60, whom have higher rates of comorbidities, greater risk of frailty and falls, and have higher rates of social isolation. CHAI will provide an intensified layer of support, with targeted activities co-developed/endorsed by the clients and supported by an integrated care model to holistically embrace, empower, and raise up “Aging Ambassadors."
Montefiore Medical Center
Montefiore proposes to create an evidence-based, HIV-specific Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment adapted to the needs older persons living with HIV (OPLWH), and implemented by providers from nursing, social work, nutrition, mental health and HIV-primary care within a multidisciplinary HIV clinic that cares for over 1500 OPLWH. This program is designed to be sustainable and scalable, serving as a basis for future efforts to “geriatricize” ambulatory HIV care sites nationally.
The Association of Nurses in AIDS Care
ANAC proposes a multi-dimensional educational program with the goal of ensuring that aging people living with HIV are provided the best possible quality of life through optimal care and care coordination by nurses/nurse practitioners in settings where older patients are served. We partner with the major Gerontology Nursing Organizations and nationally recognized Schools of Nursing with Gerontology programs to deliver this education and training to nurses across the US. It includes solid and sustainable outcomes.
Us Helping Us-People into Living Inc.
The Silver Angel Unity Health Project is an innovative social change co-location model designed to address the growing complex needs and result in positive health outcomes for this growing vulnerable population through the integration of multiple clinical, behavioral and social services in the same physical space as well as coordination of services off-site to shift the paradigm for aging Black people living with HIV from a standard care to care that incorporates key geriatric principles.
Washington Hospital Center Corporation
MedStar Washington Hospital Center’s outpatient HIV/AIDS program seeks to implement the STAR-50 model of care: STAR-50 is a patient-centered, socio-ecological model that incorporates care coordination, navigation services, peer support, clinician and community education, and a modified electronic health record to help patients improve their treatment outcomes, and overall quality of life as they age with Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV).
Increase Resources for Well-Being
Abounding Prosperity, Inc.
Abounding Prosperity, Inc. (AP, Inc.) is proposing an expansion of its SAGE program, previously funded by Gilead. The proposed program will include an expansion of the program to serve vulnerable PLWH age 50 and over, including men who have sex with men, transgender men and women, and cis-gender men and women. Building on successes of SAGE, the proposed program will offer ongoing structured support to PLWH age 50 and over, utilizing a client-centered, holistic approach.
AIDS Project New Haven Inc.
APNH proposes to mirror the MPowerment model to build a program for HIV positive individuals over 50. MPowerment is an evidence based intervention, that builds positive social connection and healthy behaviors, for young gay and bisexual men of diverse backgrounds ages 17 – 29.
Community Healthcare Network Inc. (CHN)
Community Healthcare Network (CHN) proposes an evidence-based replication of the Transgender Women Engagement and Entry to Care Project (TWEET). The project’s goal will be to improve the quality of life of HIV positive, transgender women ages 50 and above and their partners.
Legal Aid Service of Broward County Inc.
The HIV Age Positively Legal Advocacy Program will support safe and inclusive environments for Seniors aged 50+ living with HIV to promote their dignity, security and better health. The Program will use these funds to: (1) provide direct legal services to HIV+ Seniors; (2) develop training materials; provide training on HIV Seniors’ needs and rights to staff at Assisted Living Facilities, Nursing Homes & Shelters; and (3) develop an HIV+ Seniors Bill of Rights and lobby for its adoption in FL.
Project Open Hand The California Food is Medicine Coalition (“CalFIMC”), a coalition of Medical Nutrition HIV Nonprofits covering 70% of California’s population & more than 90% of California’s HIV+ 50+ population. Through this project, we will solve two primary challenges: vast gaps in local and state policy and funding to support a sustained intervention for this population; and, an historically unsustainable model of care that creates reliance and through that reliance, overburdens our program capacity.
Professional Association of Social Workers in HIV & AIDS
The Professional Association of Social Workers in HIV/AIDS (PASWHA) will implement the HIV Age Positively: A Social Work Response Initiative to address the unique challenges that aging people face.
Regents of the University of California at San Diego 2nd AC+ (second ACT) is a new collaboration between the San Diego LGBT Center and the University of California San Diego with the goal to developing a “village” around OALWH to provide social interactions and comprehensive services to ultimately allow OALWH to age well.
Shanti Project Inc.
The Finely Aged Project expands Shanti’s HIV Services for people living with HIV (PLWH) 50+ with: 1) A new Care Navigator focused on this population; 2) Medical case management (no recommendations of HIV meds); 3) Increased support for volunteer matches; and 4) Group activities with new Buddies Activities. We provide aging PLWH critically needed help on individual, peer-group and community levels so that our clients are better able to live healthy lives as they age with HIV.
Thrive SS Inc. The Silver Lining Project (SLP) is a continuation of THRIVE's HIV aging work that began in 2016 with the Silver Lining support group for BGMLH over 50. SLP is using the leadership of the network to create an intervention by and for BGMLH 50+.
University of California San Francisco
Ward 86 launched the Golden Compass Program in 2017 and seeks additional funds and a formal collaboration with PRC to provide holistic care for people aging with HIV, seeking to 1) improve care for common cardiopulmonary comorbidities; 2) ensure older adults with falls receive appropriate treatment; 3) integrate mental and behavioral health services with PRC to enhance social support.
Educate and Inform Policy
American Indian Community House Inc.
The goal of the proposed Healthy Elders Network (HEN) is to identify ways of improving access to care for Native American Elders living with HIV (NAELWH). The HEN will: identify social determinants of health for NAELWH; engage NAE LWH in the development of strategies for increasing awareness of culturally specific HIV care needs; and facilitate surveys and focus groups targeting Native Americans, health care providers that will to be analyzed for use in guiding future policy decisions.
APLA Health & Wellness
The goal of the California statewide Institute on HIV & Aging is to make evidence-based, community-informed recommendations that will promote policy and programmatic changes that lead to more appropriate clinical and supportive care for older adults living with HIV, which in turn will improve health outcomes and increase quality of life.
Cascade AIDS Project
Cascade AIDS Project’s AGING WELL initiative will build on the work done in the first year of the project, by mobilizing HIV/AIDS long-term survivors, creating a coalition of professionals in the field, hosting educational/social events for survivors, improving communication and information sharing, and evaluating our efforts.
Gay Men’s Health Crisis Inc.
GMHC will launch a National Resource Center on HIV and Aging (NRCHA). NRCHA, the first of its kind in the world, will serve as a leading hub for disseminating research-based information on HIV and Aging in order to improve the health and quality of life of older adults living with or at risk for HIV. The goal is to create opportunities for shared resources and information exchange on HIV and Aging to enable stakeholders to meaningfully participate in changing policy and practice.
My Brother’s Keeper
MBK’s Center for Research, Evaluation, and Environmental Policy Change (CREEP) proposes to partner with Open Arms Healthcare Center (Open Arms) and the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), to develop, implement, and evaluate the acceptability and effectiveness of the HIV Age Positively: LifeStyle Demonstration Project (The LifeStyle Project).
New Orleans Advocates for GLBT Elder (NOAGE)
NOAGE programs supports outreach, social engagement, support services, education, and advocacy on behalf of LGBT adults aged 50 and older who are living with or at risk for HIV.
SAGE
SAGE plans to build a dynamic, diverse, and long-term survivor driven HIV/Aging Think & Act Tank, mission-focused on publicly acknowledging, drawing much-needed attention to, and meeting the needs of long-term survivors and LGBT older people.
Tpa Network Incorporated (TPAN)
Positively Aging project is a unique collaboration between TPAN and the Reunion Project. The project will enhance the delivery of direct services in Chicago by TPAN to older persons living with HIV (PLWH), engage aging PLWH in expansion of TRP’s national peer-driven support network and disseminate information, educational resources to a national audience through TPAN’s magazine, Positively Aware.
The AIDS Institute Inc.
The AIDS Institute plans to launch the Institute for Policy, Education & Advocacy Resources for Aging Adults (IPEARAA) which will be the premiere resource and clearinghouse for valid information and educational materials, as well as, to facilitate opportunities for policy change, advocacy, capacity building and technical assistance and engage with meaningful involvement of persons living with HIV.
University of Maryland Baltimore Foundation Inc.
This project evaluates a pilot program to build capacity and expertise in the provision of comprehensive aging care plans and services within an established urban HIV center. Needs assessment and community listening sessions will inform provider training and structure of the expanded care model. This project will build expertise in geriatrics, a sorely under-resourced clinical specialty. This geriatric care model would serve as a guide to integrate aging services for other HIV centers.