The study “Prevention of HIV Among Older Adults: A Literature Review and Recommendations for Future Research” by Tracy Davis and Faika Zanjani focuses on evaluating the existing literature on the topic of prevention of HIV among older adults (2012). The literature review studies if the older adults are different to younger adults in how they contract HIV/AIDS and deal with it, the myths surrounding the disease among the older population, and then it evaluated the awareness about the disease in the older populace.
Consequently, this research aims to both increase awareness and evaluate the already existing measures.
Literature Used
The authors described the articles they used in this Literature Review in detail. They analyzed eighteen articles that studied the topic of HIV/AIDS in older people and fit all of the designated criteria.
The authors chose studies for the review based on certain criteria. First of all, the studies needed to have been published in a peer-reviewed journal, which means the studies which were conducted by experts and were reviewed by experts for quality, before being published in a journal. Secondly, the studies needed to have performed interventions for the purpose of preventing HIV/AIDS in the target population (adults of 50 years and up). Thirdly, as part of the studies, the researchers must have evaluated the implemented intervention methods. Lastly, these needed to be studies focusing on older adults in the United States published no earlier than 1996. All other studies were excluded.
All of the data collected from the articles was imported into a Microsoft Word Table, including the “authors, publication date, study objectives, study population, study location, study design, theoretical framework, description of intervention, intervention outcomes, and rating based on the Quality Assessment Tool for Quantitative Studies” (Davis & Zanjani, 2012, p.1402). Finally, Davis and Zanjani reviewed the HIV prevention strategies and recommendations.
Methodology
The authors collected their sources between September and October of 2011. The electronic databases were the primary sources from which the authors obtained the articles. In particular, they used Google Scholar, AgeLine, Academic Search Premier, PubMED, and PsycINFO. The articles were then studied and sorted into one of three groups. The first group looked at universal prevention methods of HIV/Aids for those who didn’t have it. The second group contained prevention measures for those with HIV. And the last group looked at strategies for both indicated and universal prevention. Afterward, the core elements the articles were compared, and then the results were used to synthesize a new perspective on the issue.
Authors
Tracy Davis holds a Masters Degree and is a Southern Regional Education Board Scholar, and Faika Zanjani, PhD. is a Building Interdisciplinary Research Careers in Women’s Health Scholar and an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Community Health. Most of the publications used in their study or cited in the literature review are examples of medical research, and discuss the topics of health promotion and aging.
However, they also use findings from other fields, in particular, works in nursing, social sciences, and psychology, which address issues of HIV/AIDS in the older adult population. For example, “Older Americans and AIDS: Some guidelines for prevention” by Williams and Donnely (2002).
They critically appraised the sources they cited and, and noted that while most of the articles were extensive in their evaluation of the topic, a common weakness was that very few of them targeted African Americans, a racial group which has the highest levels of AIDS. Overall, the studies didn’t focus on racial and sexual minorities.
Conclusion
The authors conducted a very effective literature review study, which thoroughly examined the issue of HIV/AIDS infection among the older populace, as well as searched the articles for the preventative methods for uninfected and infected people. They concluded that, at the present moment, there is insufficient research on the topic and analysis of their review shows that it can become a helpful and valuable foundation for future research on the subject.
References
Davis, T., & Zanjani, F. (2012). Prevention of HIV Among Older Adults: A Literature Review and Recommendations for Future Research. Journal of Aging and Health, 24(8), 1399-1420.
Williams, E., & Donnelly, J. (2002). Older Americans and AIDS: Some Guidelines for Prevention. Social Work, 47(2), 105-111.