Determining the Barriers to Employment of HIV+ Clients

Abstract

Three focus groups of clients of an AIDS Service Organization examined the employment barriers they experienced. While many barriers were identified, participants generally experienced two clusters of barriers. One cluster had a strong desire to work, but suffered severe, debilitating illnesses and disabilities rendering traditional employment precarious. The other, relatively healthy cluster expressed ambivalence and lowered feelings of self-efficacy. Practice implications are presented to address these barriers including creating non-traditional solutions for severely ill/disabled clients such as home-based employment or job-sharing and preparing ambivalent clients, through motivational counseling, for change.

Key Words:

• HIV/AIDS
• employment
• disability
• social work education
• practicum
• stigma
• discrimination