Moving Toward a Holistic Conceptual Framework for Understanding Healthy Aging Among Gay Men

Abstract

In the last four decades, we have witnessed vast and important transitions in the social, economic, political, and health contexts of the lived experiences of gay men in the United States. This dynamic period, as evidenced most prominently by the transition of the gay rights movement to a civil rights movement, has shifted the exploration of gay men's health from one focusing primarily on HIV/AIDS into a mainstream consideration of the overall health and wellbeing of gay men. Against this backdrop, aging gay men in the United States constitute a growing population, for whom further investigations of health states and health-related disparities are warranted. In order to advance our understanding of the health and wellbeing of aging gay men, we outline here a multilevel, ecosocial conceptual framework that integrates salient environmental, social, psychosocial, and sociodeomgraphic factors into sets of macro-, meso-, and micro-level constructs that can be applied to comprehensively study health states and health care utilization in older gay men.

Mental health in 2020 for men who have sex with men in the United States

“…17,68,119,120 Specific challenges faced by this growing population include psychological, social and medical problems associated with aging. The concept of ‘internalised gay ageism’ has been described as feeling denigrated or depreciated due to aging within the context of gay male identity, and has been positively associated with depressive symptoms.…”

Interventions for healthy aging among mature Black lesbians: Recommendations gathered through community-based research

“…Such a preference for holistic health has similarities with practices used by other non-white populations, such as the use of Traditional Chinese Medicine with older Asian adults (Park, 2011). Further, Halkitis, Kapadia, Ompad, & Perez-Figueroa (2015) propose a holistic conceptual framework for aging among gay men that similarly acknowledges the importance of the total person in healthy aging.…”

A Multidimensional Assessment of Successful Aging Among Older People Living with HIV in Palm Springs, California

“…), which often results in widened social networks and increased social support. 19 There is a small but growing literature on experiences and definitions of successful aging among older PLWH. Most research suggests that social engagement is critical for older PLWH to achieve successful aging.…”