7th International AIDS Conference Florence, Italy — June 16-21, 1991

Int Conf AIDS 1991 Jun 16-21; 7:460 (abstract no. W.D.4288)
Anonymous;

OBJECTIVE: -To examine HIV counselling issues. -To improve the quality and consistency of counselling services across the province. -To encourage professional counsellors to recognize the strength and resources in the community (e.g., families, friends, lovers of people with HIV) and develop a new approach to HIV counselling.

METHODS: A year-long planning process, which involved consultation with people across the province who are infected or affected by HIV, helped identify the key issues and guide a three-day conference for counselling professionals. To forge a closer relationship between professional counsellors and the affected community, all conference presentations were made by people infected with HIV, their families and friends. People infected with HIV agreed to act as resource people in small group discussions. This direct and often highly emotional approach was designed to encourage professional counsellors to empathize more closely, to use that empathy to become more effective in their work, and to look at the potential for self-help in HIV counselling.

RESULTS: The three-day conference has led to ongoing activities in all regions of the province, designed to push the field of HIV counselling further. The report from the conference is a guide to organizing similar events at a local or regional level, so that more counsellors can become part of the process.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS: HIV counselling is extremely difficult and stressful, and it is placing great pressure on the relatively small group of trained people who understand the issues. Professional counsellors are suffering from their own support needs. At the same time, many must deal with their own attitudes towards sex, sexuality and drug use. The affected community can provide support and assistance, but counsellors must be willing to take a different approach and work more closely with families and friends, capitalizing on the strengths and resources that exist in the community and exploring the potential for self-help.

Copyright © 1991 - International AIDS Society (IAS). Reproduction of this abstract (other than one copy for personal reference) must be cleared through the IAS.