They become caregivers when their adult children become sick. They are bereaved when their children die. And then they become parents to their own grandchildren orphaned by the epidemic, many of the children themselves carrying the virus. And often there is little or nothing in the way of help or support available. As Krales points out, HIV came into a society that does not love and respect its seniors.
Most people have very little time or patience for the elderly.
Our language contains few terms of endearment but many pejoratives referring to the elderly. And the lack of services for older people infected and affected by AIDS reflects this attitude. We often hear how the face of AIDS is changing, with people of color, women, children, and heterosexuals now making up a greater proportion of the HIV community. What we seldom hear is that the face is also aging. People are living longer with the virus than ever before, and if new medications live up to even a fraction of their promise, the HIV-positive baby boomers will continue to swell the older AIDS population as well as demand services that meet their needs.