Infected patients still disrespected regularly.

• Position: HIV

There was the doctor who would not come into the patient's hospital room, the neurologist who avoided eye contact, and the ambulance attendant who angrily threw her bloodied gloves into the street after learning the injured patient she transported was HIV-positive. These are reactions of some health care personnel when faced with caring for those infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) more than 25 years after its discovery. The experiences are documented in a study headed by Lance S. Rintamaki, an assistant professor of communication and health behavior at the University at Buffalo (N.Y.).

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"This study reveals the variety of such problematic events, as well as the considerable array of health care personnel listed by participants in this study," notes Rintamaki. "Clinicians should have the training and common sense to avoid a lot of these behaviors, but perhaps we shouldn't be surprised when hearing about nonclinical staff caught up in these events. They are likely relying on the same stereotypes and misinformation about HIV that are commonplace among the general public, which may lead them to act in fearful and stigmatizing ways toward HIV-positive patients."

Individuals infected with HIV must spend considerable time in the presence of health care personnel in dealing with their disease, and experiencing stigma can be discouraging. They have labeled dealing with stigma the most significant social and psychological challenge of the HIV experience.

Rintamaki says the handful of existing studies of HIV stigma in health care settings have focused...