Hopes for the future among older adult sexual minority men living with HIV/AIDS

Background: The proportion of HIV/AIDS cases in older adults has nearly doubled in recent years, with adults fifty and older representing a growing proportion of the US population living with HIV/AIDS. Despite this transformation, few studies have examined the lived experiences of older sexual minority men living with HIV/AIDS. Attending to this research gap, this study examined the ways in which older adult sexual minority men living with HIV/AIDS narrate both their hopes for and perceptions of the future. Methods: In depth interviews were conducted with an ethnically diverse sample of thirty New York City sexual minority men fifty and older who had been living with HIV for thirteen or more years. Grounded theory guided the coding and analysis of interviews. Results: Respondents described several constraints on their ability to live a high quality of life, including material insecurity and social isolation. Despite these constraints, respondents also narrated several hopes for the future, including: 1. the desire to pursue meaningful work, which would enable them to use their wisdom to help others in need, 2. the desire to maintain interpersonal ties with friends and family, and 3. the desire to maintain their physical and mental health. Some respondents had ambivalent feelings about the future, and others had difficulty imagining the future at all, preferring instead to live in the moment. Conclusions: These findings underscore the need for additional social services aimed at enhancing employment opportunities and family and community connectedness among older adult sexual minority men living with HIV.