Preventive practices in the elderly and vulnerability to HIV

Valéria Peixoto Bezerra, Maria Angélica Pinheiro Serra, Ijaly Patrícia Pinheiro Cabral, Maria Adelaide Silva Paredes Moreira, Sandra Aparecida de Almeida, Anna Cláudia Freire de Araujo Patrício

To know the vulnerability of the elderly to the HIV infection in the context of preventive practices. Exploratory qualitative study, lead from December 2012 to May 2013, with 37 nursing Coexistence Groups in João Pessoa - Paraiba. The Focus Group was elected as the research technique, and the empirical material obtained was subjected to a Content Analysis Technique, thematic modality. The elderly recognize the importance of preventive practices, but they face difficulties in its use when their emotional relationships with their partners do not favor preventive behavior, resulting in vulnerability. The elderly showed the population groups most vulnerable to HIV and do not recognize themselves as such. The complexity of the various contexts experienced by the elderlies of this study indicate the need for more research that allows advances in the understanding of subjectivity imposed in relations that underlie the aging process and the experience of sexuality in this age group.