Challenges of parenting for families living with HIV/AIDS

Given the continual rise of HIV infection in our communities and the improv ed life span for many who are HIV-positive, social workers in all fields of practice have clients whose lives have been touched by HIV/AIDS. This arti cle reviews relevant literature and reports on the parenting needs that eme rged in a Canadian study that examined the experiences of 105 mothers and f athers living with HIV/AIDS. The majority of the children in the study were not HIV-positive. Some themes related to parenting in the literature, and evident in this study, were chronic sorrow, stress and burden, normalizatio n, stigma, secrecy, and disclosure. In the study parenting was found to be a source of joy and an additional challenge in an already complicated life. Important new themes were family life as precious time, focused parenting, the different effects of HIV/AIDS, the parenting preparation needs of fath ers, and the efforts to parent affected and infected children differently. Parenting when living with HIV/AIDS requires attention from clinicians and researchers in a range of settings.