HEALTH PSYCHOLOGY IN THE 21ST-CENTURY - ACQUIRED-IMMUNODEFICIENCY-SYNDROME AS A HARBINGER OF THINGS TO COME

An increasing focus on the human immunodeficiency virus (HN) is import ant given the role of health psychology in preventing further spread o f the epidemic and in maintaining quality of life in the estimated 1,5 00,000 Americans who are now infected. HIV presents health psychology with challenges reflecting 5 trends in medicine that have broad implic ations for the future, which extend beyond HIV: (a) the early identifi cation of people who are at risk for disease, (b) the rising expectati ons for successful behavior change programs, (c) the growing populatio ns of those who are coping with chronic disease, (d) the increasing sh ift to include community and public health perspectives, and (e) the e merging need to address health problems on a global scale.