Eng/aging and HIV: Knowledge Exchange Between Administrative Data Project and Aging Individuals with HIV/AIDS in British Columbia

To an unprecedented degree in the history of HIV/AIDS, people with HIV/AIDS (PLHIV) are aging largely owing to the success of treatment. As a relatively new phenomenon, research on HIV/AIDS and aging is only just emerging, and remains largely epidemiological in focus. One leading epidemiological study called COAST comes from the B.C. Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS, a world-renowned HIV/AIDS research organization. COAST assembles administrative epidemiological data to examine aging PLHIV health trends in B.C. Missing in this research is the knowledge and experience of those being studied who actually live the challenges of aging with HIV. Canada-wide there has been a push in health research for an ethical practice that emphasizes collaboration amongst those directly affected by a health issue and researchers (e.g. CIHR 2019).

My research will engage aging PLHIV with COAST, leveraging their perspectives and lived experiences to identify community-relevant research questions and answer them using COAST data. This project stands to enrich the knowledge produced by COAST scientists, improve the inclusivity of their professional networks, and enhance the management and contribution of the COAST study itself. It is established that “patient-oriented research” improves healthcare, and this project will improve health services and health outcomes for PLHIV.

Faculty Supervisor:

Nicole Berry

Student:

Kathleen Louise Inglis

Partner:

Providence Health Care

Discipline:

Kinesiology

Sector:

University:

Simon Fraser University

Program: