Aging and HIV Institute

09/30/2026

A welcome follow-up from CCC2026: the American Society on Aging featured the conference in its latest newsletter and directed readers to AgingOven’s “Name It, Build It, Share It” for a full recap of the convening.

The piece grew from the call to action delivered by Aging and HIV Institute Founder and CEO Jax Kelly at the close of the conference and reflects a central message of the gathering: people aging with HIV should not have to hold fragmented systems together themselves.

We are grateful to ASA for helping extend the conversation and for continuing to strengthen connections between HIV and the broader aging field.

Link to the AgingOven piece in the comments.

09/26/2026

A conference can bring people together around a shared concern. What happens when everyone returns to their own organizations?

In a new AgingOven.com piece, Aging and HIV Institute founder Jax Kelly reflects on the Collaboration in Care Conference 2026. He draws on what speakers said about connection, access, and quality of life to explain the closing call he gave participants: Name it. Build it. Share it.

The piece asks where those ideas might lead to changes in plans, procedures, and decisions that affect people aging with HIV.

Read “From the Oven: Name It, Build It, Share It” at the link in the first comment.

08/03/2026

Aging and HIV Institute is pleased to announce that our Founder, President & CEO, Jax Kelly, will be a featured speaker at the 4th Annual Collaboration in Care Conference, September 15–16, 2026, in Anaheim.

Jax will deliver the conference’s Call to Action as providers, advocates, and community partners explore this year’s theme: HIV and Healthy Aging: Care, Connection, and Collective Possibility.

At Aging and HIV Institute, we focus on changing the systems that too often require people aging with HIV to navigate disconnected healthcare, aging, behavioral health, and social-service networks on their own. Our goal is to help build a more coordinated and accountable system in which aging with HIV is recognized in policy, reflected in workforce training, and addressed through partnerships that turn referrals into meaningful access, continuity of care, and a better quality of life.

We look forward to joining colleagues who share that vision and are committed to moving it into action.

📅 September 15–16, 2026
📍 Anaheim, California
🎓 Continuing education credits available

Registration is now open. Go to: https://paetc.caspio.com/dp/050e700090280c9da9194a3daf9c?ER_ID=20019610

07/28/2026

A major new Lancet HIV Commission on aging and HIV was presented today at AIDS 2026.

Its message is clear: longer life is one of the HIV movement’s greatest achievements, but viral suppression alone is not enough to ensure that people age well.

People aging with HIV may also face multiple chronic conditions, medication burdens, cognitive and functional changes, mental health needs, social isolation, stigma, and fragmented systems of care.

What they need cannot be delivered by HIV clinicians alone or through a collection of disconnected referrals. It requires real coordination among HIV care, primary care, geriatrics, behavioral health, community organizations, caregivers, and long-term care.

The Commission gives the field an important framework. The next challenge is implementation.

Who coordinates care? Who is accountable? How do we measure success? And how do people aging with HIV help design the systems intended to serve them?

At the Aging and HIV Institute, we believe longer life must also mean health, dignity, connection, and purpose.

07/07/2026

Ideas move when they speak to shared challenges.

Aging and HIV Institute is pleased to share that Founder & CEO Jax Kelly's recent commentary, “A Referral Is Not a Strategy,” originally published by Community Access National Network (CANN), has been republished by Positively Aware, the HIV treatment journal of Vivent Health + TPAN.

The article explores a question central to our work:

How do systems evolve when people live long enough to outgrow the systems originally built to serve them?

For people aging with HIV, referrals and partnerships remain essential. But lasting change requires building organizations that are prepared before someone ever needs a referral.

Thank you to Positively Aware for helping bring this conversation to more readers.

I’ve been asking that question for years while working at the intersection of HIV and aging. Along the way, I watched HIV organizations do extraordinary work helping people survive—and then helping them live longer. At the same time, I watched aging organizations devote themselves to helping old...

07/06/2026

What happens when people live long enough to outgrow the systems built to serve them?

That question is at the heart of our work.

Aging and HIV Institute Founder, President & CEO Jax Kelly was invited by CANN (Community Access National Network) to share more about the ideas behind his recent “Beyond Referrals” presentation.

The piece explores a growing reality: the success of HIV treatment means more people are growing older with HIV. That success brings new opportunities and new responsibilities.

People aging with HIV are navigating healthcare, housing, caregiving, social connection, and the many experiences that come with growing older.

The challenge is making sure the systems around us are prepared.

Because a referral is not a strategy.

We need communities and organizations ready to recognize, include, and support people aging with HIV.

Read Jax’s full piece for CANN:

https://www.tiicann.org/blog/referral-not-a-strategy-aging-with-hiv

More than half of people living with HIV in the U.S. are 50 or older. A referral connects people to care—but it doesn't build the capacity needed to serve them.

06/22/2026

Organizations serving older adults are already serving LGBTQIA+ older adults and people aging with HIV. The question is not whether these populations exist within our communities. The question is whether our systems recognize them.

📢 On June 23, (see flyer below) Aging and HIV Institute Founder, President & CEO David “Jax” Kelly will join the Inland Coalition on Aging to present:

Beyond Referrals: Building Organizational Capacity to Serve LGBTQIA+ Older Adults and People Aging with HIV.

Drawing on California's first statewide LGBTQIA+ Older Adult Survey, state aging policy initiatives, and lived experience, this presentation explores how visibility influences planning, funding, implementation, and outcomes.

Participants will examine:

• Why visibility is a systems issue, not simply a demographic one
• How policy and data shape who becomes visible within aging services
• The relationship between recognition, planning, and accountability
• Why referrals matter—but are not a substitute for organizational capacity
• Practical steps organizations can take to build readiness, knowledge, and inclusion

The goal is not for every organization to become an HIV organization or an LGBTQIA+ organization. The goal is for every organization serving older adults to have the knowledge, relationships, and capacity necessary to serve the people already walking through their doors.

To register: http://lnkdin/g6d2HCtU

06/21/2026

With Desert Healthcare District – I just got recognized as one of their top fans! 🎉

06/20/2026

Visibility matters. But visibility alone is not enough.

In April, Aging and HIV Institute had the opportunity to testify before the California Senate Select Committee on Older LGBTQ+ Californians about the challenges older adults living with HIV face as they navigate aging, health care, disability, and social service systems.

The closing message from that testimony remains as important today as it was then:

"We exist. We age. We deserve to be named within the systems that are meant to serve us."

Older adults living with HIV continue to contribute to our communities, support one another, and advocate for systems that recognize and respond to our needs.

We invite you to watch and share this brief video excerpt.

Senator John Laird California Department of Aging California Department of Public Health