Envejecer bien con VIH is the Spanish translation of the Aging Well with HIV program.
Workshops are highly participatory. Mutual support and success build participants’ confidence in their ability to manage their health and maintain active and fulfilling lives. Each participant is guided to tailor the workshop content to their own needs.
If participants are older and or living with multiple chronic conditions, Tomando control de su salud could be used in place of Envejecer bien con VIH.
Formats
- Small group workshop offered either face-to-face or virtually
- 2 1/2 hours per session
- 1 session per week for 6 weeks
Participants
Spanish-speakers who are living with HIV
- 12-16 participants per face-to-face workshop
- 8-12 participants per virtual workshop
Workshop Leaders
- 2 trained Spanish-speaking Leaders, one or both of whom are non-health professionals with HIV, for both in person and virtual workshops
- Must be trained by SMRC-certified Master Trainers
Frequently Asked Questions
Does the Program replace existing programs and treatments?
Envejecer bien con VIH will not conflict with existing programs or treatment. It is designed to enhance regular treatment and HIV-specific education. The program gives participants the skills and confidence to coordinate all the things needed to manage their health, as well as to help them keep active in their lives.
How were the programs developed?
Our original HIV self-management program, the Positive Self-Management Program (PSMP), was originally developed at Stanford at the height of the HIV epidemic. While at Stanford University, Dr. Allen Gifford received a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to develop and pilot a community-based self-management program to assist people with HIV. The study was completed in 1997. Later Dr. Alison Webel, while a doctoral student at the University of California San Francisco, conducted a second evaluation.
Today, the majority of people with HIV are over the age of 50, so SMRC, with help from several national organizations serving the HIV community, conducted both a focus group and survey of about 150 people living with HIV to identify how best to update the PSMP. We learned that about 75% of what older people with HIV wanted was included in the Chronic Disease Self-Management Program (CDSMP), and that there was a need for about 25% new or revised HIV-specific content. This current program, Aging Well with HIV, reflects what we learned to be the needs expressed by this group.
How can my facility offer the Program?
All agencies must have at a minimum:
- License to offer SMRC Programs
- At least two Spanish-speaking Leaders trained to offer Envejecer bien con VIH
- A copy of the book, Tomando control de su salud for each participant
Workshop Topics
Physicians whose works centers on HIV, registered dietitians, occupational and physical therapists, and other health professionals have reviewed all workshop materials.
Topics include:
- How to deal with multiple medications, including those for HIV (including PrEP)
- Techniques to deal with isolation and loneliness, as well as frustration and fear
- Advocating for yourself with others, including health care professionals, as well as advocating for others
- How to deal with symptoms such as fatigue and pain
- Appropriate exercise for maintaining and improving strength, flexibility, and endurance
- Nutrition
- Evaluating symptoms
- Advanced directives
- Decision-making
- Sex, intimacy
- Action-planning, problem-solving, decision-making
Participant Materials
- Tomando control de su salud book
- Relajación para la mente y el cuerpo relaxation CD or MP3 (optional)
- Supplemental Spanish materials on HIV (provided with manual)