Healthy Aging Eyes & Ears: Sensory Health Needs and Barriers for Adults Aging with HIV

TL;DR

This study explores how aging adults with HIV experience sensory loss and the barriers they face in accessing sensory care, offering insights for better community-based programs.

Contribution

The study introduces a community-based participatory approach to understanding sensory health needs and barriers specific to adults aging with HIV.

Findings

Six key themes were identified, including stigma, affordability, and self-management in sensory health for adults aging with HIV.

Facilitators and barriers to sensory care were mapped across individual, interpersonal, organizational, and system levels using the Social Ecological Model.

Participants emphasized the need for tailored sensory health programs that address HIV-specific challenges and promote independence.

Abstract

Sensory loss is common among aging adults and has been linked to poor health outcomes, including depression, frailty, cognitive decline, falls, and poor quality of life. Vision and hearing loss are more prevalent among adults aging with HIV (AAWH) and are associated with decreased healthcare engagement. This qualitative study used a community-based participatory research approach to explore sensory health experiences, needs, and program preferences of AAWH receiving services at Colorado Health Network, a statewide AIDS Service Organization in Denver. Following purposive sampling, we conducted and audio-recorded ten individual interviews and two focus groups with 23 participants (ages 51-73), who shared their lived experiences with sensory loss and perspectives on sensory care. Audio recordings were transcribed, and data were analyzed through deductive and inductive thematic analysis and team-based triangulation. Six themes were identified: interplay of HIV and aging in sensory decline perceptions; sensory aid stigma and self-perceptions of accelerated aging; navigating affordability of sensory aids; creative behavioral, environmental, and technological adaptations to sensory loss; long-term survivorship as a driver of self-management of care and self-advocacy; integrating ideal sensory care for AAWH. Using the Social Ecological Model, we identified facilitators and barriers to sensory care at the individual, interpersonal/provider, organizational/community, and system levels. Facilitators included motivation to maintain independence, peer modeling, community-based benefits, and care navigation. Barriers included discomfort with assistive devices, stigma, provider bias, limited awareness of HIV-specific health needs, and gaps in insurance coverage. Findings offer guidance for designing community-based sensory health programs tailored to the lived experience of AAWH.