AEGiS-BKREV: HIV and Social Work: A Practitioner's Guide

(BKREV) HIV and Social Work: A Practitioner's Guide

Haworth Press, 10 Alice St., Binghamton, NY 13904-1580. 586p., illus., bibliog., index. (Haworth Psychosocial Issues of HIV/AIDS). ISBN 0-7890- 0180-2, 1-56023-906-9pbk. $69.95, $24.95pbk.
edited by David M. Aronstein, Bruce J. Thompson. 1998.

With the help of an excellent selection of contributors, Aronstein and Thompson have put together a handbook for social workers that should be available in all academic and medical libraries. The contributors are social workers who have worked on the fro nt line of AIDS work in the United States. Some may question why we need such a book now when the outlook for controlling HIV/AIDS is looking more optimistic, with AIDS becoming a manageable chronic condition. This optimism should not distract from soci al workers who have to work with the poor, minorities, and young people who do not have convenient access to the medical help that others may have. These groups are at a very high risk for contracting the HIV virus and will not benefit from the new thera pies due to underinsurance or no insurance.

After an introduction that outlines the essential facts every social worker needs to know, the handbook proceeds into "Practice Settings." The health setting is covered first in the area of acute care and hospice care. The mental health settings are the n discussed where one has to work with couples, individuals, families, ethical issues, dementia, and support groups. The next section, "People in Special Circumstances," covers clients who use drugs, parents and children with HIV, women with HIV and chil dbearing, adolescents, people with HIV in the workplace, gay men, HIV-positive women, elderly, rural settings, preexisting mental illness, and HIV in correctional facilities. The fourth section covers the economic supports and housing that may be available while the last section discusses "Caring for the Professional Caregiver."

This is not a concise handbook. Its 586 pages provide a wealth of information for the social worker. An extensive list of references enables one to search deeper on various topics, but the text of the book is so well-written that further reading may not be necessary. Again, this is a highly recommended book for all medical and academic libraries.

Keywords: Social Aspects; Social Service

Copyright (c) 1999 - Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. Reviews may be reprinted or redistributed for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. For other reprinting, redistribution , or translation, address requests to H. Robert Malinowsky, University of Illinois at Chicago Library, PO Box 8198, Chicago, IL 60680 or electronically to hrm@uic.edu.
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Copyright © 1999 - The University of Illinois at Chicago. All materials in the journal are subject to copyright by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois and may be reprinted or redistributed for the noncommercial purpose of scientific or educational advancement granted by Sections 107 and 108 of the Copyright Revision Act of 1976. For other reprinting, redistribution, or translation, address requests to H. Robert Malinowsky, University of Illinois at Chicago Library, PO Box 8198, Chicago, IL 60680 or electronically to hrm@uic.edu.

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