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Why Is it Important to Educate Psychology Graduate Students About HIV?
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We have prepared this Guide for psychologists who have the responsibility for graduate education of the psychologists of tomorrow. Many of you who have been involved in the response to HIV disease since the beginning of the epidemic are already educating graduate students about the disease. For you, this Guide will provide resources for teaching courses or training students that supplement materials you are already using. For those of you who may not have been directly involved in teaching students about HIV/AIDS, this Guide is intended to introduce you to the importance of preparing psychology graduate students to conduct research on HIV/AIDS, carry out prevention programs, or treat clients and their families.
Both the magnitude and the nature of the HIV epidemic necessitates our training graduate students to understand the vital contribution of psychology to the management and elimination of the epidemic. Already, an estimated 1.5 million people in the United States, and 30 million people globally are infected with the HIV virus. This epidemic cannot be handled by medical personnel alone.
As an infectious, chronic disease, HIV/AIDS requires behavioral management to maintain the health of the person with the disease and to protect others from transmission. For example, cognitive-behavioral strategies for promoting prevention and managing the course of the disease have been effective.
As a disease that affects many different, often socially stigmatized populations, the prevention and treatment of HIV disease also requires an understanding of different cultures and of culturally sensitive and appropriate approaches to prevention and treatment. Management of the epidemic, as well as treatment of individual patients, requires the involvement of behavioral scientists who are trained to study individuals as well as the interactions of individuals with their environments.
At all stages of HIV disease, the application of behavioral science theory and practice have been beneficial. The involvement of psychologists in the public health arena has already had some positive results in the approaches to prevention and treatment. For example, research has shown that providing counseling prior to and after HIV testing is associated with decreases in anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation. As the public health response focused on primary prevention, it became clear that behavior change was the only primary prevention strategy. Theoretical and applied research on behavior change, including drug abuse prevention and reduction of high-risk sexual behaviors, much of which has been conducted by psychologists, has become the focus of prevention. As behavioral specialists, we have a responsibility to the public and to our students for sharing the knowledge of our discipline with others.
Many psychologists have already been involved in developing prevention
and treatment strategies based on behavioral theories and in formulating
public policies that are informed by our knowledge of human behavior.
Future psychologists must be trained to conduct research, to treat clients,
and to contribute to future public health approaches to ending the epidemic.
A recent needs assessment of clinical psychology graduate students at
a California university found a correlation between their training in
HIV/AIDS treatment and perceived competence in treating special populations.
However, there was little correlation between any multicultural training
and perceived competence in working with multicultural HIV clients.
The authors pointed out the ethical dilemma raised by graduate students without multicultural training who believe that complex multicultural issues can be handled without specialized training. The study concluded that training guidelines were needed for psychologists who want to work with persons with HIV disease and with multicultural populations.
Suggested Readings and References
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (1997, December). HIV Surveillance Reports. Atlanta, GA.
Chesney, M. A. (1993). Health psychology in the 21st century: Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome as a harbinger of things to come. Health Psychology, 12 (4), 259-268.
Kelly, J. A., Murphy, D. A., Sikkema, K. J., & Kalichman, S. C. (1993). Psychological interventions to prevent HIV infection are urgently needed: New priorities for Behavioral research in the second decade of AIDS. American Psychologist, 42 (10), 1023-1034.
Kindermann, S. S., Matteo, T. M., & Morales, E. (1993). HIV Training and Perceived Competence Among Doctoral Students in Psychology. Professional Psychology: Research and Practice, 24b (2), 224-227.
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