Older Persons and the HIV/AIDS Epidemic in Cambodia

Nathalie Williams, University of Michigan
John Knodel, University of Michigan

While older persons have relatively low HIV prevalence, as parents of adults with HIV/AIDS, they are strongly affected by the epidemic. Quantitative evidence from Thailand and Cambodia indicates that parents of adults with AIDS commonly provide caregiving during illness, financial and material support and funeral expenses, and foster grandchildren orphaned by AIDS. Using Cambodia as a case study, we provide an in-depth analysis of the role of older persons in the epidemic and its consequences for their physical, financial, emotional, and social well-being. Results are based primarily on 25 open-ended interviews of urban and rural older caregivers in 2006 but also draw on representative survey data from 2004 and 2005. Within the context of the expanding provision of ART and home-based care by the Cambodian government and NGO’s, our interviews target both older persons whose children received little assistance and those who have received extensive help from outside the family.