Drug treatment staff attitudes toward AIDS and workplace transmission of HIV: A survey and follow-up—Spectrum House, Inc

• Published in: Journal of substance abuse treatment 1991, Vol.8 (4), p.297-302
• Main Authors: Connors, Margaret M., Lewis, Benjamin F., Russo, John P., Baker, Lori A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome; acquired immunodeficiency syndrome; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - prevention & control; Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome - transmission; Adult; Attitude of Health Personnel; Attitude towards mental illness; Biological and medical sciences; Drug Abuse; drug treatment staff attitudes; Female; Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; HIV Infections - prevention & control; HIV Infections - transmission; Humans; Inservice Training; intravenous drug users; knowledge and fears; Male; Medical sciences; Occupational Diseases - etiology; Occupational Diseases - prevention & control; Occupational Safety and Health; Patient Care Team; Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry; Psychopathology. Psychiatry; Risk; Risk Factors; Social psychiatry. Ethnopsychiatry; Substance Abuse Treatment Centers; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - psychology; Substance Abuse, Intravenous - rehabilitation; Treatment Programs; Workplaces
• ISSN: 0740-5472; 1873-6483
• DOI: 10.1016/0740-5472(91)90053-D

A growing number of cases of HIV infection and AIDS in the U.S. have been reported among intravenous drug users and their sexual partners. This increase in cases has begun to have a significant impact on substance abuse treatment programs; in addition to the complexities of HIV education and counseling, the staff of such programs must deal with their own fears regarding HIV infection, since many experientially trained staff are, themselves, former IV drug users. Other staff members may experience irrational anxiety about working HIV-infected clients, due to the fear of workplace exposure to the virus. In order to assess the extent and nature of such anxieties among its staff, Spectrum House, Inc., a comprehensive substance abuse treatment program, administered a Staff AIDS Survey in 1986 and again in 1987. Responses reflected a marked decrease in staff anxieties relating to workplace transmission of HIV during the 14-month period between surveys, seemingly related to both the implementation of AIDS education and an increase in contact with HIV positive clients. Those staff members whose contact with HIV positive clients remained infrequent between surveys, however, continued to show higher levels of fear about casual contact and workplace exposure to HIV. These results indicate that increased staff-client interaction may be an effective addition to other forms of staff AIDS education in substance abuse treatment programs.