Fowler cites the attitude of a high school student who attended one of her speeches. That's the big deal. Many older people take the same risks as younger people. But if they do engage in risky behavior, age isn't a vaccine. It isn't going to protect them from the consequences.
Older women present a special set of challenges to researchers.
Studies indicate that older women know far less about HIV than younger women, a lack of knowledge that may put them at risk. Moreover, the disease is increasingly cropping up among retirees. You have pockets of people engaging in high-risk behaviors. To protect older people from HIV, Florida health officials have established the Senior HIV Intervention Project, one of the few programs anywhere that provide health education, testing and support to older people with HIV or at risk of becoming infected. Ron Stall of the CDC laments that more hasn't been done to help elders protect themselves.