從愛滋社工者的工作經驗初探“部分社工者不願提供服務給愛滋感染者或病患”之現象

The literature shows that some social workers are unwilling to work with people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). However, it is doubtful whether the social workers who expressed their unwillingness on surveys would still reject working with PLWHA clients who asked for professional assistance. This is the main research question to be explored in this paper. To answer the question, researchers invited 18 social workers in HIV/AIDS organizations or hospitals to join four focus-group discussions in Taipei, Taichung, and Kaohsiung from October to November 2005. Many social workers in this study had witnessed some social workers' unwillingness to work with PLWHA, although the situation has been improving slowly. 'Social, institutional, or individual factors' were suggested to explain why some social workers were unwilling to work with PLWHA. Some possible reasons have not been mentioned in the literature, such as institutional factors, relatives' objection, not knowing how to work with PLWHA, and HIV/AIDS is a compulsorily reported transferred disease. The paper discusses the implications of these findings and offers suggestions for social work education and practice.