Social Work and HIV

When the HIV/AIDS epidemic struck Canada over 15 years ago, few people understood what it meant or would mean. Legal, ethical, and policy issues in public health, drug use, homosexuality, sex education, confidentiality, discrimination, health, and social security came under intense scrutiny and were often found wanting. A great deal of fear and confusion existed-fear of contagion, confusion about transmission and the natural course of the disease.From the beginning, social workers in Canada have been at the forefront in seeking to cope with the multiple effects of the HIV epidemic, working in the areas of prevention, care, and health policy to solve or ameliorate the many small and large problems caused by HIV for infected individuals and affected communities. Social Work and HIV: The Canadian Experience brings together essays by front-line workers and researchers from across the country, who describe their own successes and failures in dealing with the effects of HIV: in rural communities; among urban Aboriginal street youth; upon haemophiliacs; among the gay male community; upon women; among injection drug users; and among families with children.