WHOSE HEALTH IS IT - THE VIEWS OF INJECTING DRUG-USERS WITH HIV-INFECTION AND THEIR PROFESSIONAL CARERS

The views about autonomy in medical treatment of people with HIV infec tion (who had acquired it via the injection of drugs) and their profes sional carers were investigated using a standardized self-report instr ument. Forty-two patients and 61 staff were entered in the study. Pati ents and staff reported strong endorsement of patient autonomy, but th ere were important differences between groups. Staff as a group report ed higher preference for patients' involvement in decision-making than the patients themselves, while the opposite was true for information- seeking, where patients wanted more information than staff had anticip ated. The practical implications of the findings are discussed.