Integrating HIV prevention into substance user treatment: current practices and challenges.

Despite well-organized prevention efforts, HIV continues to spread in the United States. Injection drug users (IDUs) and other substance users who engage in high-risk behaviors are at particularly high risk for contracting HIV. Substance abuse(dagger) counselors therefore are in a unique position to present HIV prevention messages to their clients. This article reports the results of a study that surveyed counselors in an urban setting (n = 116) to assess their knowledge of HIV, their current HIV prevention practices, and their attitudes about integrating HIV prevention more fully into their work. The article concludes with a discussion of the survey's limitations and its implications for training.