Respite care for HIV-affected families.

Anonymous testing of all newborn infants in 1988 revealed that one of every 61 babies born in New York City was HIV positive (New York City Department of Health, 1988). With the availability of new treatment, HIV positive children are living longer, often into their school years, and most are able to live at home. The majority of children acquire HIV through maternal transmission. Frequently, multiple family members are HIV positive. Parents, or other caregivers, are overwhelmed by depression, anxiety and grief, and urgently need childcare assistance. Finding childcare is difficult since families are often reluctant to disclose the AIDS diagnosis to potential childcare workers. This article describes an innovative in-home respite care program for parents and caretakers of children who are HIV positive. The service is coordinated through a hospital's social work and volunteer departments. This article describes strategies to recruit, train and supervise volunteers to provide respite care for families with HIV positive children.