Lesbians, supposedly the lowest-risk group for AIDS, may have a history of having male lovers, or they may have shot drugs and even worked as a prostitute at some point in their lives, thus risking HIV exposure. A dying young person can challenge personal and societal myths of immortality and what constitutes a good death. AIDS challenges social workers to change themselves by dealing with feelings about pain, illness, death, and the illusion of personal immortality. Challenging Hopelessness and Barriers to Good Practice Social workers need to be prepared to empower ill and dying clients by maximizing their options to live and to die how they want to. To accomplish this crucial clinical task with clients, professionals must feel empowered in their work.
False barriers can get in the way of reaching out empathically to clients.
As Harry Stack Sullivan noted, people are more similar to each other than dissimilar. Many people with AIDS are living longer and with a better quality of life than they might have a few years ago. Social workers must learn how to empower clients with hope amid their illness. The hope may not be only for a cure, but to stay healthy long enough for the next generation of medical breakthroughs to occur. More time allows social workers to encourage people with AIDS to hope for and work toward improved relationships with estranged family members or friends.