HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes among social work students: A comparative study

Abstract

The article describes a quantitative cross-sectional study of a sample of 674 university students enrolled in social work programmes in four countries: Belgium, Canada, Chile and Switzerland. The study aimed to assess HIV/AIDS knowledge and attitudes among participants. The median HIVKQ-18 score for the sample was 14.0, which Carey and Schroder classify as indicating borderline low levels of knowledge. Based on the results, the authors argue that social work education and training programmes should more comprehensively address HIV/AIDS within their curricula to better equip future social workers to challenge stigmatising and exclusionary practices rooted in long-standing lack of knowledge and erroneous beliefs about the disease.