10/08/2025
Aviva Joffe remembers a moment in high school when her future may have been foretold.
“I remember learning how public education is funded in part by property taxes so that students in wealthy areas might receive more than those in underserved areas,” says Joffe. “It didn’t seem right.”
Joffe’s consciousness already had been primed by the values of her family and her faith community. Her volunteer work in college sealed her intention to pursue a career in social work. She’s been director of the Immunodeficiency Center Program at Jefferson Einstein Philadelphia Hospital, for patients with HIV, for seven years.
“HIV lies at the intersection of so many critical issues of our time which I care about deeply,” she says.
Although HIV may seem to have lapsed out of public focus since it rarely leads to AIDS, the scourge that decimated the gay community in the 1980s, Joffe will tell you that yes, some things have changed, but some things haven’t.
The stigma, for instance, is still there.
“I see it when I talk to people who are newly diagnosed,” Joffe says. “They think they won’t be able to have intimate relationships for the rest of their lives. They’re afraid to tell their family and friends. They’re afraid of rejection.”
What has changed is the fact that so many people are now living normal life spans that Joffe’s work has become focused on providing services for seniors with the virus.
“In the previous generation, people didn’t age; they died,” she says. “Now, over half of our patients are over the age of 50. We have many patients over the age of 70. So, we’ve been developing new services to make sure we are evolving to provide aging-specific care.
In March, the center formally inaugurated a schedule of regular home visits to patients over 70 for whom mobility issues may make it difficult to get to the clinic. Three full-time practitioners will visit patients quarterly to get a more comprehensive assessment of the patient’s challenges: Is there food in the refrigerator? Are there grab bars for safety? How many outdoor steps are there to the front door? Who else lives there?
In June, the center also presented the first group workshop designed to address the isolation and loneliness of aging. Six patients attended a cookout-themed session that combined health education with – line dancing?
“The theme was a summer cookout,” Joffe says. “We focused on healthier options of summer cookout food. We had a nurse practitioner teach them line dancing and do education around movement and exercise. It was a good first session.”
Joffe says the job at Jefferson Einstein is “a good fit for me because of the range of clinical social work and administrative and organizational responsibilities.”
So, while the revelatory moment in high school may not have been positive, it may have been the spark that helped propel her journey to social work and Jefferson’s HIV program.
“I love that working in HIV is hopeful, especially compared to other areas of social work,” Joffe says. “When I meet with a newly diagnosed patient, I am able to share hope and reassurance that they can remain healthy with a normal life expectancy if they take medications daily and come see us every few months.”
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