Designing Effective HIV/AIDS Social and Behavioral Interventions for the Population of Those Age 50 and Older

Social and behavioral HIV/AIDS prevention interventions designed to test their effects on older cohorts are sorely lacking in the scientific literature even though middle-aged and older people represent a significant minority of both existing and new AIDS cases. This article raises key issues relevant in developing and evaluating HIV/AIDS social and behavioral interventions for older cohorts. These interventions must build on our current understanding of behavior change and HIV prevention successes with younger populations while considering important intervention principles gathered from work with older populations in other health arenas. In addition, the authors expand on recent national panels and published reviews relevant to the topic and provide a set of intervention recommendations for use in tandem with these intervention principles. The article also calls for additional research into the sociocultural contexts that influence risk-taking among older cohorts and for the development of interventions at multiple levels. Pragmatic considerations such as identifying and dismantling ageism in interventions, delineating intervention outcomes, and planning for intervention transferability, dissemination, and sustainability also are raised.