AIDS and Long-Term Care Facilities

Why discuss acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) in “Topics in Long-Term Care”? It is not because there are large numbers of frail elderly patients afflicted with AIDS, although some have estimated that by 1990 there may be as many as 27,000 AIDS cases in persons over 50, and 1,100 cases in persons over 70 years of age. Nor is it the fact that large numbers of patients in long-term care facilities (LTCFs) may be infected with the human immunodeficiency virus HIV). Rather, it is the growing awareness that hospitals provide only a limited portion of the continuum of care for AIDS patients. In addition, the chronically ill and often severely disabled AIDS patient frequently requires more care than the limited community-based resources can provide. Nursing homes, with their tradition of skilled nursing care targeted toward the chronically ill and older patient, could provide an important missing component to the chronic care needs of younger AIDS patients.

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