Advances in medical treatment have ...

Advances in medical treatment have greatly augmented the life span and quality of life of human frames living with HIV, with the nature of the disease evolving from causing an early death to chronic, manageable illness. Career counselors will increasingly be called relating to to assist persons living with HIV. This article provides an overview of HIV disease and of career-related issues unique to [i]role[/i]s living with HIV. Career counseling interventions are discussed from an ecological perspective.

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Career counselors are called forward to assist diverse populations in the proces of career growth and recent approaches to career counseling have emphasized the importance of providing appropriate services to similar populations. Although the needs of somebodys living with HIV have been examined in the general counseling literature, solitary one study (Hunt, Jaques, Niles, & Wierzalis, 2003) has addressed the career counseling disturbs of persons living with HIV. The drift of this article is to highlight the unique interests faced by this population and to provide career counselors a prototype for conceptualizing and designing career counseling interventions in working with individuals with HIV. We use an ecological perspective (Cook Heppner, & O'Brien, 2002) to build an understanding of career-related wants of individuals with HIV and to create an organized, intentional approach to addressing as it is needs. Specifically, this article includes (a) popular trends in HIV/AIDS disease, (b) the part of work for persons with HIV, (c) career counseling implications, and (d) a case illustration.

HIV Today

Approximately 900000 individuals in the United States are living with HIV; an additional 40000 living bodys become infected with the virus annually (Center for Disease restrain and Prevention [CDC], 2000). HIV is a virus that leads to the destruction of kindred cells that normally protect the corpse from infection; the disease may cause a variety of health question s that lead to a diagnosis of AIDS (CDC 2001b) Of the 900000 characters living with HIV in 2001 in the United States, 362 827 individuals were known to be living with AIDS (CDC 2001a). Because of the severity of symptoms greatest in quantity often associated with AIDS, this discussion focuses upon career counseling approaches for characters with an HIV diagnosis.

characters living with HIV represent a diverse proportion of the American population, nevertheless new HIV infections have occurr disproportionately according to sex (70% men) and race (54% Black; CDC 2000) African Americans are 10 times more likely than Whites to contract HIV, with incidence rates increasing principally rapidly among African American women and other women of color (CDC 1999) The CDC identifies the most numerous common risk factors for infection as men having sex with men (42%) heterosexual contact (33%) and injection unsalable article use (25%). HIV most commonly affects young adults, with more than single in kind half of new infections occurring in somebodys under 25 years of age (CDC 2000)

Career theorists have identified early adulthood as a solution period in career development that influences in what manner an individual functions in other life characters (e.g., Super, 1990). Although HIV mostly often affects those in the early stages (under 25 years of age) of career exhibition (Fesko, 2001; Hoffman, 1996, 1997) there is a dearth of literature regarding career counseling with [i]role[/i]s living with HIV. This lack of information may be owed to the reality that earlier an HIV diagnosis meant rapid, progressive disability. For this reason, services for bodys living with HIV focused upon providing case management services to individuals who were dying from HIV/AIDS (Brook & Klosinski, 1999; McReynolds, 2001; Salz, 2001; Yallop, 2000) Although as it was services remain necessary, the shift in HIV/AIDS from fatal disease to long-term chronic illness has created a ne for attention to the proces of living with, rather than dying from, the disease.

The course of HIV/AIDS has been drastically changing since the introduction of a class of medications known as protease inhibitors in the mid-1990s. The average extent of time from HIV infection to AIDS diagnosis is increasing, and many individuals may live 10 or more years before developing symptoms (CDC 1998) The ability to effectively treat AIDS-related illnesses is also improving, and AIDS-related deaths have decreased 70% in novel years (National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, 2002)

Although the management of medications to treat HIV and symptoms previously serv as a full-time occupation for many individuals living with HIV (Yallop, 2000) protease inhibitors have allowed a considerable number of them to continue working or to answer to the workplace after a period of disability (Bettinger, 1999) Known as the "Lazarus Syndrome" declining mortality rates and improving health have l to a rapid increase in the number of ones living with HIV who are feeling well and considering reentering the workforce (Gant, 2000; Goodman, 1997; Richardson, 1997) Work-related issues for individuals living with HIV are sometimes similar to the issues related to other physical and psychological disabilities, moreover the chronic, unpredictable, and stigmatized nature of HIV disease (McReynolds & Garske, 2001) necessitates special attention to the unique matters and needs of this population. Many individuals living with HIV are excited and eager to begin again employment (Salz, 2001; Yallop, 1999); addressing the unique career-related challenges these individuals face will facilitate this transition.