GSA Momentum Discussions

Understanding HIV in Older Adults: Part 1

Advances in medicine mean the number of older adults living with HIV/AIDS is increasing, which also presents new challenges to both aging service providers and HIV/AIDS service providers. In Part 1 of this series on Understanding HIV in Older Adults, Drs. Mark Brennan-Ing and Molly Perkins discuss social networks, isolation, and social supports among older adults living with HIV; resilience as a way to address stigma; the diversity of those who are living with HIV; internalized ageism; and the use of crisis competence to learn from HIV survivors during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Guest: Mark Brennan-Ing, PhD
Senior Research Scientist, ‎Brookdale Center for Healthy Aging, Hunter College, CUNY

Host: Molly Perkins, PhD
Associate Professor, School of Medicine and Graduate Faculty of Emory Sociology, Emory University

This podcast episode is supported by ViiV Healthcare. Content was developed by The Gerontological Society of America (GSA).

Understanding COPD in Older Adults

Dr. Melissa Batchelor speaks with Dr. Barbara Yawn about her journey to becoming Chief Clinical Officer of the COPD Foundation. Dr. Yawn shares the misconceptions about COPD in older adults and challenges that lead to underdiagnosis. She discusses treatment options – both pharmacologic and nonpharmacologic – and the importance of an interdisciplinary team in treating COPD.

Guest: Barbara Yawn, MD
Chief Clinical Officer, COPD Foundation

Host: Melissa Batchelor, PhD, RN-BC, FNP-BC, FGSA, FAAN
Director of the Center for Aging and Health and Humanities and Associate Professor at George Washington University School of Nursing

For a quick reference, download the fact sheet Understanding COPD in Older Adults.  

For more information on COPD, see GSA’s recent What’s Hot publication: Recognizing and Treating COPD in Older Adults. 

This podcast episode is supported by GlaxoSmithKline. Content was developed by The Gerontological Society of America (GSA). 

Obesity and Its Disproportionate Impact on Racial and Ethnic Minority Populations

The vexing problem of the increasing weight of Americans has grown to epidemic proportions in recent decades. As millions of people enter older adulthood, they bring with them added pounds and the challenges of excessive body fat. Now recognized as a chronic medical condition, obesity is associated with serious health problems that increase morbidity and mortality, stigmatization at work and in social settings, decreased physical function, lower health-related quality of life, and increased direct and indirect health care costs. When combined with common aging-related challenges, obesity can create complex clinical situations without easy solutions. 

In this episode, Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford speaks with Dr. Tamara A. Baker, addressing the issue of obesity and specifically how the prevalence of obesity is different in communities of color versus majority communities in the United States. Dr. Stanford reviews the different factors that contribute to the high burden of obesity in racial and ethnic minority populations, why there appears to be worsened outcomes in patients who have obesity and COVID-19, and strategies that can be utilized to address excess weight in communities with high prevalence of obesity, especially in older adults.  The interview closes out with a review of barriers to receiving treatment and an overview of legislation has been proposed to help address the epidemic of obesity in our communities.

Guest: Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, FAAP, FACP, FAHA, FTOS
Obesity Medicine Physician Scientist, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School

Host: Tamara A. Baker, PhD, FGSA
Professor, Department of Psychiatry, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

This podcast episode is supported by Novo Nordisk. Content was developed by The Gerontological Society of America (GSA).