Aging and informal caregiving to people with HIV/AIDS

This article reviews the growing research dealing with informal caregivers to people with HIV infection or AIDS, focusing particularly on the intersection of this work with research on aging. It contrasts AIDS caregiving with what is known about caregiving in general, which is often associated with caring for a frail older person. This comparison points to a scholarly literature in which aging, gender, generational differences, and life-course issues have been a central concern. In addition, using data from the UCSF Care Study, this article presents some results from analyses concerned specifically with the interpretation of age-related effects and caregiving. It emphasizes the diversity among AIDS caregivers, who may be friends, partners, or family relatives, and the diversity of their experiences with caregiving, loss, and aging. It also outlines important methodological and conceptual links between a life-course perspective on aging and AIDS caregiving and suggests how each scholarly concern may inform the other.