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PURPOSE: To explore potential effects on the health of older parents living with and caring for people infected with HIV. DESIGN: Comparison of health outcomes between affected parents and matched nonaffected parents, and between principal caregivers and nonprincipal caregivers in Thailand. METHODS: Survey data from 394 affected households and 376 nonaffected households; qualitative data from 18 interviews of affected older parents. RESULTS: A large proportion of older people with HIV-infected children provided time-consuming and strenuous caregiving services to them. Mothers shouldered most of this burden. Mothers who had a child die from AIDS reported lower levels of overall happiness than did mothers who had not. Mothers and fathers of PHAs (persons with HIV/AIDS) who died reported lower levels of overall happiness compared to 3 years previously (before the time of the death of their child) and compared to parents from households that did not experience an adult child's death. Many parents of children with AIDS experienced anxiety, insomnia, fatigue, muscle strain, and head and stomach aches during the time they cared for their ill children. CONCLUSIONS: Many older people suffered adverse health outcomes related to living with and caring for their children with AIDS. Recommendations indicate a variety of programs that might help such older parents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most persons with AIDS (PWAs) eventually require demanding caregiving. This can prompt changes in living arrangements during the course of the illness. Few studies have attempted to examine the potential links between AIDS and migration from this perspective. The present study uses both direct and indirect approaches to examine the extent of return migration of adults with AIDS in Thailand and explores how this is linked to residence with and care by older aged parents. Methodological challenges and various approaches to the study of this phenomenon are discussed. Despite differences in the nature of information available from our samples and in basic sample characteristics, the findings show a consistent pattern suggestive of extensive return migration among PWAs. The fact that most return migrants die within a few months of their return indicates that they are seeking parental caregiving during the final stages of the illness. The vast majority of PWAs who returned home after becoming ill did so because of their illness, particularly due to a need for care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Levels of AIDS related knowledge are widely assumed to be high in Thailand, a country with probably the most effective response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic to date in the developing world. But efforts to verify these levels are sparse in recent years, and very little attention has ever been paid to AIDS knowledge and attitudes within the Thai older population. Because many Thai older persons (aged 50 and over) remain sexually active late in life, and because many more will be involved in interactions with and care taking of young adult persons suffering from AIDS, we explore AIDS knowledge and attitudinal data we collected during 1999 from a sample of 773 older Thais from four provinces and Bangkok. The sample provinces were chosen to include a wide range of prevalence levels and social contexts regarding the epidemic. We compare the results with data from a sample of 398 young adults using the same questionnaire, collected at the same sites, at the same time (total N = 1,171). We find an overall high level of awareness about AIDS across our age groups of interest, but also identify important deficiencies among the young adults and especially among the older Thais. Implications of the findings are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article utilizes constructs of the AIDS Risk Reduction Model (ARRM) to examine condom use in a sample of 215 HIV-infected women in New Jersey. We find evidence that processes affecting condom use in HIV-infected individuals are similar to those found in HIV-negative individuals. Results suggest that partner-related factors are important to consistent condom use in HIV-infected women. Women are more likely to use condoms consistently if they have high perceived power to influence their partner's condom use, have partners who are HIV seronegative, and have partners who do not want more children. Conflicts with the partner decrease the probability of consistent condom use. Also negatively associated with condom use are the woman's use of drugs and/or alcohol and her belief that condoms reduce sexual enjoyment. Implications of these findings for designing interventions for HIV-infected women are considered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]