Interpersonal Violence and Its Impact on Persons Living With HIV: A Social Work Response

Abstract

The burden of interpersonal violence (IPV) among those living with HIV is significant. At the Southern Alberta Clinic in Calgary, Alberta, there has been ongoing attention given to the interplay of IPV and HIV. Our data reveal the potential risks, specifically physical harm, emotional suffering, and, in turn, lack of follow-through on HIV medical care. We also know that health care social workers are key clinical team members in service delivery around prevention, intervention, and education, in relation to IPV and its impact on HIV patients. Social workers’ knowledge and understanding of the impacts of IPV in the lives of persons living with HIV provides them with a significant role in addressing this social phenomenon, its impact, and its relationship with the comorbid health issue of HIV. Social workers are also trained to delineate how the personal histories of IPV are interconnected and linked to structural oppression in social and cultural processes.

KEYWORDS:

• client-centered practice
• ecological model
• HIV
• health care intervention
• mental health
• interpersonal violence
• social work practice