Why a Holistic Approach to HIV and Menopause Matters

As a woman living with HIV and a nurse by trade, Bridgette J. Picou, LVN, ACLPN’s advocacy work in the HIV space is a work of hearts. In her role as stakeholder liaison for The Well Project in Brooklyn, New York, she focuses specifically on women and girls living with and vulnerable to HIV. As a woman also going through menopause, she emphasizes the need for more inclusive research on how these 2 aspects of health intersect in women and must be approached with a more holistic viewpoint.

She presented her research, “Lived Experience: Beyond Hot Flashes” during the “Hot Topic: Menopause and HIV” mini symposia at the 2025 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections.

This transcript was lightly edited for clarity; captions were auto-generated.

Transcript

Why is research on the intersection of menopause and HIV so relevant?

It's relevant right now because women are aging with HIV. We are often an underrepresented and understudied population, and so bringing attention to the many intersections that women go through living with HIV is critically important. This one is particularly close to my heart, because, of course, I'm a woman aging with HIV and firmly in menopause, and there's not enough research. There’s research out there, but it's not understood enough, and there are too many conflicting recommendations and care plans. Like some people say HRT [hormone replacement therapy] is fine and some people say it's not, and people think that HIV accelerates menopause and some people say it doesn't. The conflicts and the crossroads that women find themselves at when dealing with and coming into menopause need to be studied more.

Beyond hot flashes, what are significant challenges women living with HIV face during menopause?

Women living with HIV already face stigma, the stigma of having HIV to begin with. Then when you add in menopause, we're talking about the stigma that comes with aging and feeling less desirable, or feeling like society feels like you're old and used up. All of those things are doubled and amplified in women living with HIV. It's really important that we consider the whole woman and look at life with HIV from a holistic approach, and that means every single aspect of health, whether it is comorbidities or menopause.