Education to meet the challenge of AIDS

Studies of health care providers' attitudes have revealed that many have misconceptions and fears about AIDS and possess negative attitudes about caring for people with the disease. Merely transmitting the basic facts about AIDS is insufficient to prepare health care workers to deal with AIDS patients. This article discusses the need for continuing education for health care professionals and educators and offers a model for the development of educational programs. The model is being developed in the School of Allied Health Professions, State University of New York at Stony Brook. Principles of "andragogy"--involvement of both the learner and the educator in identifying students' needs, planning learning experiences, and ongoing evaluation of the learning process--are discussed.