AIDS in the Nineties: from science to policy. Care in the community and by the community.
As the numbers of people with HIV infection increase the favoured option for care in the future is to increase community and home care. Without doubt also the statutory services have recognized the need to make prevention, educational and care services sensitive and appropriate to the client group they aim to serve and many unconventional systems are being put into place in order to do this. The reality of community care is so often care by the family and volunteers and there has to be some attempt to support informal carers materially and emotionally. Without the work of these groups it would be impossible for governmental or formal agencies to provide the necessary degree of quality of care. It would seem that a combination of pressure from the 'communities' affected by HIV/AIDS and flexibility in providing care by statutory and voluntary groups has made it possible to provide different schemes of community care or at least made suitable service delivery happen more quickly and more appropriately than might otherwise have been the case. There was some feeling at the conference that it would be comforting to think that some of these innovations, hard won for HIV/AIDS, could be replicated for groups of patients in the community who may not have such a vocal advocacy group to back them.
McCann
K
K
Institute for Social Studies in Medical Care, Hampstead, London, UK.
D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000628:therapy; D003153:Community Health Services / Q000458:organization & administration; D003256:Community Participation / Q000379:methods; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000628:therapy; D006291:Health Policy; D006801:Humans