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Fred Rosner, MD; Stanley Shapiro, MD; Lois Bernabo, DSW; Freddy Howard, MA
Queens Hospital Center Affiliation of the Long Island Jewish-Hillside Medical Center Jamaica. NY

JAMA. 1985;253(16):2361.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

To the Editor.—

Our experience with patients with the acquired immuno-deficiency syndrome (AIDS) indicates that they are ostracized by their friends and families, usually for fear of contracting the disease. Physical contact is often totally avoided; social contact is reduced to a minimum. Patients with AIDS are stigmatized, as lepers and epileptics were years ago. Some consider AIDS a punishment by divine retribution for sins of immorality including homosexuality and illicit drug abuse. Patients suffer from guilt, isolation, ostracism, and fear of the high mortality rate associated with the disease.

An interdisciplinary team was established at the Queens Hospital Center, a 705-bed municipal hospital in the City of New York, to promote planning for the psychosocial evaluation, treatment, and in-hospital management of AIDS patients. The team is composed of ward staff, including a physician, nursing representatives and a social worker, as well as consultation staff, including a psychiatrist, psychiatric nurse, . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Footnotes
Edited by Drummond Rennie, MD, Senior Contributing Editor.

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