Portnoff M, Shoptaw S, Frosch D, Rawson RA, Nahom D; International Conference on AIDS.

Int Conf AIDS. 1996 Jul 7-12; 11: 183 (abstract no. Mo.D.1754).

Matrix Center, Los Angeles, CA, USA. Fax: (310) 785-9165. E-mail: javadog106@aol.com.

Issues: Drug abuse counselors who work with clients with HIV may not have adequate knowledge about HIV and how it affects chemical dependency treatment. Project: This is a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) funded project to evaluate the utility of a Structured Treatment Manual for Substance Abusers with HIV' for counselors working in drug-free and methadone clinics. 150 counselors from 18 drug-free and 18 methadone clinics will complete baseline surveys of counselors' self-efficacy, job satisfaction, counseling style, job burnout', and HIV knowledge. Qualitative descriptions of counselors' response to training with the structured treatment material will be completed for all clinics. Results: Results based on a current 70% response rate indicate that knowledge about HIV is low. On average counselors chose correct answers for 56.51% of questions (SD=14.87) on an HIV knowledge survey. Drug-free (DF) counselors had greater knowledge about HIV than methadone (Meth) counselors (MDF = 64.09, SD = 11.35; MMeth = 51.79, SD = 14.94; t(84) = -4.05, p is less than .01). Counselors who scored high on the HIV survey rated their clients with HIV as more severely impacted by problems resulting from substance abuse (M=4.26, SD=1.73) compared to counselors who scored low on the survey (M=3.33, SD=1.80; t(65)=-2.01, p is less than .05). Qualitative data indicate that counselors are hesitant to openly discuss issues surrounding sexual relationships and specific sexual acts when counseling their clients. Lessons Learned: Chemical dependency (CD) counselors lack knowledge specific to HIV, which may impede effective treatment for CD clients with HIV. Training for CD treatment providers should focus on helping counselors to discuss issues of sexuality when counseling clients.

Publication Types:

• Meeting Abstracts

Keywords:

• Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
• Ambulatory Care Facilities
• Attitude
• Counseling
• HIV Infections
• HIV Seropositivity
• Humans
• Knowledge
• Methadone
• Sexual Behavior
• Sexuality
• Substance-Related Disorders
• United States
• education
• therapy

Other ID:

• 96921789

UI: 102217688

From Meeting Abstracts