STRENGTHENING FAMILY PROBLEM SOLVING TO COPE WITH AIDS

Strengthening Family Problem-Solving to Cope with AIDS. Families affected by AIDS are subject to many sources of stress, encounter many barriers to adequate supports and services, and may have many unmet needs. The proposed intervention is designed to help families develop flexible coping skills to gain the supports and services they need. It is based on a widely used social problem-solving model that enhances general skills for coping. Our approach accommodates the special needs of families affected by AIDS by l) conducting an intake to define family composition and tailor the program to families' needs, 2) offering a six- session problem- solving- skill- building curriculum for key family members, and 3) providing one year of contact with a trained peer advisor for consolidation and generalization of training. We will recruit 288 families from four New York State-designated AIDS Care centers (DACs) in Brooklyn, New York. Families will be randomly assigned to Experimental or standard-care Comparison arms. The index adult with AIDS, and up to two other adult family members will be assessed at baseline, and at 12- month and 24-month follow-ups. Assessment will determine whether the intervention impacted family problem-solving process, and consequently access to support and adaptation.