The HIV testing of a man with learning disabilities: informed consent, confidentiality and policy
| Published date | 01 November 2001 |
| Pages | 23-28 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/14668203200100025 |
| Date | 01 November 2001 |
| Author | Paul Cambridge |
| Subject Matter | Health & social care,Sociology |
The Journal of Adult Protection Volume 3 Issue 4 • November 2001 © Pavilion Publishing (Brighton) Limited 23
key words
HIV testing
informed consent
disclosure
confidentiality
counselling
sex education
abstract
Informed consent, confident-
iality, disclosure, policy and the
wider consequences of HIV testing
are issues explored in this paper
concerning a man with learning
disabilities who tested positive for
HIV.The events and outcomes are
summarised, with lessons identified
for policy and practice in HIV risk
management and adult protection
in services for people with learning
disabilities.
Introduction
Over the last year I have received four telephone calls from
services supporting people with learning disabilities who have
tested positive for HIV and from a number of others who are
worried about the risks service users are taking in relation to
HIV infection. In a paper six years ago (Cambridge, 1996) I
outlined the risks of the sexual transmission of HIV to men
with learning disabilities who have sex with men, and their
male and female sexual partners in services. This evidence was
later placed in the context of the re-homosexualisation of HIV
in services for people with learning disabilities and issues of
sexual health and sexual identity (Cambridge, 1997a). This
was at a time when AIDS was being ‘re-gayed’ as an issue by
gay men who were aware that their sexual health needs as a
group remained high compared to heterosexuals, at the same
time as HIV prevention resources were being directed away
from them. Considerations for HIV policy development and
HIV testing were also articulated (Cambridge, 1997b), as were
considerations for working with men with learning disabilities
who have sex with men (Cambridge, 1999; Cambridge &
Mellan, 2000).
Anonymous discussions soon revealed that three of the
calls concerned men with learning disabilities who had sex
with men without learning disabilities and one a woman with
learning disabilities who had sex with men with and without
learning disabilities. This anecdotal evidence fits the known
high risks of unprotected anal and vaginal sex, particularly to
the receptive partner, and the known sexual behaviours and
sexual health risks assessed from sex education for both men
and women with learning disabilities (Thompson, 1994, 1997;
The HIV testing of a man
with learning disabilities:
informed consent,
confidentiality and policy Paul Cambridge
Senior Lecturer in Learning Disability, Tizard
Centre, University of Kent at Canterbury
Policy and practiceoverview
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