Challenges and changing roles in HIV/AIDS social work: implications for training and education

HIV/AIDS social work was changed fundamentally by the introduction of more effective medications to combat the disease, and by the spread of HIV/AIDS beyond the gay community to intravenous drug users and their sexual partners, women, children, adolescents, and people of color. This paper describes the professional challenges HIV/AIDS social workers now face at this stage in the history of the disease as a result of improved medications, and the spread of the disease to newer groups. We describe the roles HIV/AIDS social workers will play in the next wave of the epidemic, and discuss the implications of these changing roles for social work education and training.