Abstract
This article explores social work practice with persons living with HIV/AIDS within the Latino community. It presents a general discussion of social work practice HIV/AIDS, followed by an exploration of culturally sensitive social work practice with Latinos. The authors then synthesize these bodies of knowledge into a discussion of HIV/AIDS in the Latino community, and social work practices that can be useful when working with this population. A case example of group work practice with Latinos living with HIV illuminates many of the themes explored throughout the paper. Finally, implications for social work practice are examined.
Highlights
Social Work as a profession is concerned with helping and empowering vulnerable populations
Social Work practice with Latinos living with HIV/AIDS encompasses several areas of knowledge that include practice interventions for people living with HIV/AIDS, knowledge of cultural values of Latinos that affect treatment, and effective strategies for dealing with HIV/AIDS based on those cultural values
The preceding case study demonstrates examples of how values and skills are implicated in providing services to Latinos with HIV/AIDS
Summary
Social Work as a profession is concerned with helping and empowering vulnerable populations. The two vulnerable populations that have garnered national attention in the last three decades come together to create a new population that presents both challenges and opportunities for the social work profession, are people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) and Latinos. The HIV virus progressively develops into AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) while the person living with the disease eventually succumbs by way of opportunistic infections associated with the later stages of the disease. Diana Rowan, Ph.D., is the MSW Coordinator in the Department of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. April Jones and Kevin Edwards are MSW students in the Department of Social Work at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. The United States prevalence for the disease is 1.2 million cases with 16% affecting Latino Americans (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2005)
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