Attitudes and Stereotypes Regarding Older Women and HIV Risk

Persons aged 50 years and over will soon disproportionately represent the future of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. It is estimated that by 2015 older adults will represent 50% of persons living with HIV in the United States. Despite the HIV/AIDS growing population among older adults, attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes toward older adults that exist in general society have affected HIV prevention, education, and care. Specifically, ageist attitudes about the sexuality of older adults in general and older women in particular, low clinical HIV suspicion among healthcare providers, lack of knowledge about risk among older women, and differentials in power related to negotiating sexual practices all lead to heightened concerns for the prevention, identification, and treatment of HIV disease in mature women. This article examines common attitudes, beliefs, and stereotypes that exist within general society as well as health and social service providers that place older women at a disadvantage when it comes to HIV prevention, education, and treatment.     

Domestic Abuse Against Elder Women and Perceived Barriers to Help-Seeking

The study's (n = 447) purposes were to (1) describe relationships of abuser behavior to elder women's perception of barriers to help-seeking; (2) compare fit of model to participants' levels of abuse, race-ethnicity, age, and gender and relationship of identified close other; and (3) determine extent to which the model differentiated relationship of abuser to participant and level of abuse. Analyses identified six factors contributing to the overall barrier score, accounting for 84% of total variance (χ²/df = 1.527, CFI = .989, RMSEA = .034), including three internal and two external factors and a single abuser behavior factor that were invariant across participant characteristic; however, covariances did differ.     

Older Latina Women and HIV/AIDS: An Examination of Sexuality and Culture as they Relate to Risk and Protective Factors

Older Latina women are one of the least studied American demographic groups with regard to social, health, or sexual behavior. This could leave social workers and other geriatric professionals unprepared for dealing with HIV/AIDS in this population. Currently, older Latina women are one of the fastest growing groups of new AIDS cases. Twenty percent of all women ever diagnosed with the disease are Latina and 5.5% of Latinas infected with the virus are older. The number of diagnosed infections is increasing in older women, including Latinas, in spite of recent declines in infection rates with younger populations. There are also a potentially large number of cases that go misdiagnosed or undiagnosed.

This article also addresses risk and protective factors related to gender roles, traditional Latino family values, religion, socioeconomic factors, health, and health care, with special attention to the triple jeopardy faced by this population by virtue of being female, seniors, and minorities. The article concludes with recommendations for the development of culturally competent practices with older Latinas and the development of a research agenda to better understand their risk-related and health-seeking behavior.     

Towards flexible organizations: A multidimensional design

The author considers one way by which the readiness, willingness, and ability of organizations to change themselves can be increased. Specifically, he considers how organizations can be designed to be more flexible and, therefore, more capable of being changed and changing themselves. Flexibility does not guarantee adaptability but it is essential for it.     

Marketing segmentation research—An application to bank services

The research reported here analyses data relating to bank services obtained by a stratified random sampling technique using stepwise linear regression and canonical correlation for the purpose of illustrating the application of segmentation principles to marketing research.     

Health and Cultural Determinants of Voluntary HIV Testing and Counseling Among Middle-Aged and Older Latina Women

The rate of cases of HIV/AIDS in older people is increasing; indeed one out of every four people with HIV/AIDS is over age 50. This study describes the correlates of HIV Voluntary Counseling and Testing (VCT) using structural equation modeling techniques for a sample of 135 middle-aged and middle-aged and older Latinas in South Florida. Over 60% of participants had been tested for HIV. Provider endorsement was found to be the strongest predictor of VCT (odds ratio [OR] = 6. 38), followed by having a clinic as a regular source of healthcare (OR = 3.88). Social work implications are provided.     

Internal barriers to help seeking for middle-aged and older women who experience intimate partner violence

There has been relatively little qualitatively or quantitatively published research to guide the field in identifying and addressing barriers to seeking help for older women who experience domestic violence. Women over the age of 45 have seldom been participants in research on domestic violence. This paper describes results from a qualitative study that focused on reactions to and internalization of abusive behaviors of an intimate partner. Twenty-one focus groups were conducted with 134 middle- aged and older women. Analysis of the data identified six factors that describe reactions to abusive behavior that become barriers to help seeking, including self-blame, powerlessness, hopelessness, the need to protect family, and the need to keep such abuse secret from others. These.