Men's Health and Sexuality: Stories of Elderly Men Living with HIV/AIDS

Objective: to know the particularities of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the elderly, from the discourse of elderly men living with HIV/AIDS. Method: Rereading of 8 (eight) interviews with elderly men living with the virus, treated at Eduardo de Menezes Hospital of the Hospital Foundation of Minas Gerais State, in Belo Horizonte, Brazil, all aged 60 years or over. For the analysis of the interviews, the thematic networks technique was used. Results: The rereading of the interviews reveals the following networks of themes: men's health, sexuality, gender relations and living with HIV/AIDS, confirming the hegemonic model of masculinity and its consequences. Conclusion: When thinking about aging with HIV/AIDS, it is necessary to consider men in the context in which they live and their beliefs and perceptions, highlighting the need to work on the importance of health care, condom use and asymmetry in gender relations. In other words, recognizing the importance of the elderly individual's capacity and demystifying their sexual invisibility, as well as building a new perspective on elderly people living with HIV/AIDS.