HIV/AIDS: A Comprehensive Review E122B

Course Summary

Practice Level: Intermediate

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is a major public health issue worldwide. Research, treatment, and prevention, as well as standard protocols to diagnose and manage HIV and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), have improved treatment outcomes to the point where total viral suppression is a possibility for many patients. Although HIV and AIDS are still very serious health problems, people diagnosed with this illness are able to achieve health and maintain quality of life much more than in previous years. Advances in testing and treatment options have improved the care and management of those individuals diagnosed with HIV. Comprehensive prevention strategies and education for human services and mental healthcare providers and their patients are critical to help reduce the spread of the disease.

The risks of exposure to HIV are important for health clinicians and the public to understand, which includes recognition of the behaviors that are considered high risk and population groups vulnerable to exposure, along with skills to challenge stigma and discrimination. Access to health services and barriers to evidence-based, affordable treatment is a worldwide concern. This learning material, designed for social workers, marriage and family therapists, psychologists, and counselors, examines HIV infection and AIDS, multilevel prevention strategies, diagnosis, the use of ART drugs, non-biological treatment issues, lifespan considerations, and social and cultural concerns. Case examples are also included to highlight key learning points.

HIV and AIDS have been the subject of significant research, and there have been dramatic improvements in disease outcomes and morbidity. Although it remains a chronic condition without a “cure,” new treatment guidelines and antiretroviral drugs have provided hope for individuals infected with HIV to live symptom free and longer. Also, continuing education for human service and mental healthcare professionals caring for children and adults with HIV or AIDS helps to dispel myths and reduce stigma, enhances understanding of best-practice trends, and improves implementation of prevention strategies. People living with HIV and AIDS are diverse and come from varied backgrounds and experiences. When mental health and human services practitioners have an understanding of the biopsychosocial elements of the disease, they are better able to support clients who are considering treatment options and support best possible outcomes.

Course Format

This course contains downloadable online lessons (PDF) and a practice test. When you’re ready, purchase the course by clicking the “Add To Cart” or “Enroll” button. This will let you take the test, complete the course evaluation and receive your certificate for CE credits.

Learning Objectives

1. Describe HIV and AIDS, including current trends and epidemiology. 
2. Identify the biological factors and clinical stages of HIV infection. 
3. Explain HIV transmission. 
4. Apply varied HIV transmission prevention strategies for specific client scenarios. 
5. Describe HIV screening and testing recommendations. 
6. Explain approaches to providing pre-test information and post-test counseling. 
7. Recognize the methods of HIV diagnosis.
8. Describe HIV treatment, including the importance of mental health professionals in ART adherence and patient retention in care. 
9. Identify biopsychosocial counseling, mental health, and lifespan considerations in HIV care. 
10. Explain the role of social and cultural forces in HIV acquisition, treatment, and interventions. 
11. Recognize the effects of, and ways to respond to, discrimination and stigma in HIV. 
12. Describe clinical considerations among populations vulnerable to transmission. 

Authors

Susan DePasquale, APRN

Susan DePasquale, APRN, is a board-certified family psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner. Her current practice is with youth and adults who have mental illnesses in both inpatient and outpatient settings. She completed her Master of Arts in political science at the University of Victoria, British Columbia, with a focus on the Inuvialuit Western Arctic Land Claim and political-economic development; her Master of Science in nursing at Seattle Pacific University in Seattle, Washington, with a focus in neurogastroenterology; and her Post-Master of Science in nursing at the Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, with a focus in psychiatry. She has worked with small and rural healthcare teams in British Columbia and the Northwest Territories, Canada, and at the Providence Health and Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle Digestive and Liver Disease Departments. She is an associate of the ROME foundation, an international organization raising awareness on functional gut disorders. Since 2014, she has been affiliated with the Montana State Hospital at Warm Springs, the Galen Forensic Mental Health Facility, part of the Montana State Hospital, Youth Dynamics Inc, Aware Inc, and Insight Telepsychiatry for Montana and Wisconsin communities.

Tara Wells, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, PMHNP-C

Tara Wells, MSN, APRN, FNP-C, PMHNP-C, is a board-certified family nurse practitioner and psychiatric-mental health nurse practitioner based in Helena, Montana. She has worked in medical/surgical care, urgent care, psychiatric care, long-term acute care, teaching, management, and insurance settings. As an FNP-C Tara has managed a wide range of chronic medical conditions including HIV and hepatitis, and provided medication assisted therapy (MAT) for substance use disorders. At her private practice Tara continues to treat a wide range of psychiatric, behavioral, and chronic conditions. 

M. Lys Hunt, LICSW

M. Lys Hunt, LICSW, has been practicing social work for over 25 years. She earned her master’s degree from the Boston University School of Social Work and completed a postgraduate fellowship at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her clinical work specializes in the areas of mental health and child and family welfare.

Accreditation Approval Statements

CE4Less.com is approved by the American Psychological Association to sponsor continuing education for psychologists. CE4Less.com maintains responsibility for this program and its content.

CE4Less.com, provider #1115, is approved as an ACE provider to offer social work continuing education by the Association of Social Work Boards (ASWB) Approved Continuing Education (ACE) program. Regulatory boards are the final authority on courses accepted for continuing education credit. ACE provider approval period: 8/8/24-8/8/27.

Social workers completing this course receive 7 clinical continuing education credits.

This course has been approved by CE4Less.com, as a NAADAC Approved Education Provider, for educational credits. NAADAC Provider #91345, CE4Less.com is responsible for all aspects of the programing.

We are committed to providing our learners with unbiased information. CE4Less never accepts commercial support and our authors have no significant financial or other conflicts of interest pertaining to the material.