What knowledge and skills did Linda possess to work with patients with HIV/AIDS? How did she obtain her knowledge and skills?

Question

in a rural North Carolina community, Linda Summerfield’s job was to provide direct services to people with HIV/AIDS as well as to connect them with resources. Aware of their needs, she also respected their need for confidentiality and anonymity in an area where issues surrounding HIV/AIDS were highly charged and prejudice was common. In 1999, Linda was also eager to help six men in her caseload who were struggling with uncertainty, loneliness, and isolation. Aware of their shared needs, she believed in the healing power of group work for such clients. Although initially reluctant, the six men agreed to “meet” via telephone and, despite their apprehension and some technical difficulties, after five weeks all agreed that the experience was helpful. But when meeting via telephone became unworkable, Linda faced decisions over whether and how or where to persuade the men to continue meeting.

Answer 1

When she first came to Daybreak, Linda knew little about HIV/AIDS. In fact, she had some of the commonly found fears about how the disease is contracted. However, Linda had generalist social work skills, knowledge, values, and abilities developed through her undergraduate education and hospital employment. She also had good group work skills honed as a hospital social worker. In addition, Linda had research skills that she used to learn more about how to understand and intervene with those who had the disease.