Trajectories of Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Adults Living with HIV Who Use Methamphetamine

Trajectories of Social Isolation and Loneliness Among Older Adults Living with HIV Who Use Methamphetamine is sponsored by National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), National Institutes of Health (NIH). This opportunity supports mission-aligned projects and measurable outcomes.

Trajectories of social isolation and loneliness among older adults living with HIV who use methamphetamine Project Number 1R21DA062721-01A1 Former Number 1R21DA062721-01 Contact PI/Project Leader HAN, BENJAMIN HYUN Project Summary/Abstract: This application is being submitted in response to PAR-24-092: Multidisciplinary Studies of HIV/AIDS and Aging.

There is a high prevalence of methamphetamine and other stimulant use among older adults living with HIV, which places them at high risk for associated adverse outcomes due to co-existing chronic diseases and functional impairments. This population has also experienced a profound loss of their social networks and is at risk for social isolation and loneliness.

Additionally, older adults who use drugs experience a high level of stigma related to drug use, treatment, and ageism. All these experiences are also experienced by people living with HIV and would, therefore, be compounded among older adults with HIV who use drugs.

The objective of this study is to recruit participants living with HIV who currently use methamphetamine (baseline cohort of n=125) to measure social isolation, loneliness, and intersectional stigma longitudinally and how they may be related to health outcomes.

Aim 1 of this study is to characterize trajectories of social isolation and loneliness longitudinally at three time points (baseline, 6 months, and 12 months later) along with changes in methamphetamine use, function, and acute healthcare utilization.

Aim 2, through qualitative interviews with a subset of enrolled participants (n=25), will explore patient perspectives on how social isolation and loneliness influence HIV care, substance use, recovery, and treatment and elicit perspectives on strategies to address social connectedness. As an exploratory aim, this study will measure the stigma and discrimination experienced by this population through validated scales.

During qualitative interviews, perspectives regarding stigma related to methamphetamine use, HIV, ageism, and other potentially related factors will also be assessed. This research will ultimately inform future interventions to address isolation and disconnection among older adults with HIV who use methamphetamine.

This will have additional public health implications for the efficacy of improving substance use treatment and health outcomes among older adults living with HIV. Public Health Relevance Statement Project Narrative Older adults with HIV who use stimulants are at heightened risk of being socially isolated, reporting loneliness, and experiencing everyday stigma.

As these conditions are interrelated, measuring the lack of social connectedness and its relationship to intersectional stigma with aging is essential for this population, given their possible influence on treatment and health outcomes.

The information learned from this research project on HIV/AIDS and aging will inform providers and policymakers across the spectrum of clinical care on improving social connectedness among a growing yet often overlooked population made vulnerable.

Aging Basic Behavioral and Social Science Behavioral and Social Science Clinical Research Drug Abuse (NIDA only)HIV/AIDS Health Disparities Research Health Disparities and Racial or Ethnic Minority Health Research Infectious Diseases Mental Health Methamphetamine Opioid Misuse and Addiction Opioids Social Determinants of Health Stimulant Use and Misuse Substance Misuse Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome Acute Address Adverse effects Age Ageism Aging Behavior Boredom California Cardiovascular system Caring Characteristics Chronic Disease Clinical Development Discrimination Disease Drug usage Drug user Elderly Feeling Foundations Friends Functional impairment Funding Funding Mechanisms Future Grant Growth HIV HIV/AIDS Health High Prevalence Impaired cognition Intervention Intervention Strategies Interview Learning Loneliness Measures Methamphetamine Motivation NIH Office of AIDS Research Older Population Outcome Patient Recruitments Patients Pattern Perception Persons Policy Maker Population Population Heterogeneity Prevalence Provider Public Health Quality of life Recovery Recreation Reduce health disparities Reporting Research Research Priority Research Project Grants Risk Role Science Social Network Social isolation Substance Use Disorder Symptoms Time Toxic effect United States National Institutes of Health Work adverse outcome clinical care co-infection cohort comorbidity coping disease transmission experience functional status health care service utilization high risk implementation strategy improved life span methamphetamine effect methamphetamine use mortality risk multidisciplinary older adult opioid treatment program opioid use disorder overdose death participant enrollment perceived discrimination recruit response social social contact social stigma stimulant use substance use substance use treatment UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN DIEGO INTERNAL MEDICINE/MEDICINE [HIV/AIDS Intra- and Inter-personal Determinants and Behavioral Interventions Study Section[HIBI]](https://public.

csr. nih.

gov/StudySections/StandingStudySections) Administering Institutes or Centers National Institute on Drug Abuse Assistance Listing Number Project Funding Information for 2025 NIH Categorical SpendingClick here for more information on NIH Categorical Spending | NATIONAL INSTITUTE ON DRUG ABUSE | $198,854 | Aging; Basic Behavioral and Social Science; Behavioral and Social Science; Clinical Research; Drug Abuse (NIDA only); HIV/AIDS; Infectious Diseases; Mental Health; Methamphetamine; Substance Misuse; Opioids; Opioid Misuse and Addiction; Social Determinants of Health; Stimulant Use and Misuse; Health Disparities Research; Health Disparities and Racial or Ethnic Minority Health Research | No Sub Projects information available for 1R21DA062721-01A1 Publications are associated with projects, but cannot be identified with any particular year of the project or fiscal year of funding.

This is due to the continuous and cumulative nature of knowledge generation across the life of a project and the sometimes long and variable publishing timeline. Similarly, for multi-component projects, publications are associated with the parent core project and not with individual sub-projects.

No Publications available for 1R21DA062721-01A1 No Patents information available for 1R21DA062721-01A1 The Project Outcomes shown here are displayed verbatim as submitted by the Principal Investigator (PI) for this award. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed are those of the PI and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Institutes of Health. NIH has not endorsed the content below.

No Outcomes available for 1R21DA062721-01A1 No Clinical Studies information available for 1R21DA062721-01A1 No news release information available for 1R21DA062721-01A1 No Historical information available for 1R21DA062721-01A1 No Similar Projects information available for 1R21DA062721-01A1 ## Select options for export: