AIDS: Implications for Families

Facts about AIDS and its epidemiology are reviewed and the psychosocial implications for families and human service professionals are discussed. AIDS was 1st diagnosed in the US in 1981. As of January 18 1988 51361 cases of AIDS had been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and 56% of these had already died. It is estimated that between 1 and 1.5 million persons in the US are currently infected with human immunodeficiency virus and by the end of 1991 179000 will have died because of the disease. Yet it is only recently that family professionals have become sensitized to the profound impact of these realities on families and their members as well as on the communities within which they live. Public education; voluntary anonymous testing with counseling; integrated family-oriented health care; and long-term implications are considered.