HIV/AIDS Conference - Graduate School of Social Work

Update on HIV/AIDS
Vincent Lynch, MSW, Ph.D, spoke with Dorland Health about the state of HIV/AIDS today and about a new resource that can assist with resource management. Dr. Lynch founded the Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS in 1988 and is Director of Continuing Education at the Boston College Graduate School of Social Work.

Listen to the audio interview

HIV/AIDS 2011

The 23rd Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS will convene at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta during May 26-29, 2011. We expect over 500 AIDS-care social workers to be in attendance from across the U.S. and from several nations abroad. The conference will open at 4:30 PM on Thursday, May 26 and conclude at 1:00 PM on Sunday, May 29.

The theme of the 2011 conference will be "Best Practices in HIV Social Work: Linking Research, Practice, Advocacy, and Planning." In September our "Call for Conference Presentation Proposals" announcement will be available. We will accept submissions until December 31, 2010. If you have a presentation for consideration please submit early as space is limited. We expect to once again offer over 120 presentations in various formats during the four days of the conference.

Between September 15 and January 15 we will also offer our "Early-Bird Conference Registration" option. If you register during that period you pay only $175 instead of the regular $275 registration fee.

We will have a block of sleeping rooms available at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta at the special "Boston College AIDS Conference" rate of only $120 per night, single or double occupancy. The hotel's reservation line can be reached by calling 404.577.1234. Please request our special rate.

Contact us if you are not on our mailing list or if you have questions. You can reach the conference chair, Dr. Vincent Lynch, at vincent.lynch.1@bc.edu or at 617.552.4038.

We hope to see you in Atlanta in 2011!

HIV/AIDS 2010

The BC GSSW convened its annual four-day national HIV/AIDS social work conference on May 27-30, 2010, at the Denver Colorado Convention Center. There were over 400 attendees representing 44 states and the District of Columbia. This year’s theme was "Direct Social Work Practice with HIV/AIDS Clients: Current Approaches." Over 125 presentations were delivered in a variety of different formats, including general sessions, poster sessions, individual papers and brief oral reports.

An in-depth advanced clinical practice institute was offered that covered topics such as Medical Case Management Principles; Self Care/Managing Burnout in Your Work; Using Motivational Interviewing Strategies in Practice; and Risk Reduction Counseling Approaches.

About the HIV/AIDS Annual National Conference

The Boston College Graduate School of Social Work founded the Annual National Conference on Social Work and HIV/AIDS in 1988. This four-day conference, under the direction of Director of Continuing Education, Vincent J. Lynch, has been held on an annual basis since 1989. Each year the event draws more than 500 AIDS-care social workers from across the country and from many nations abroad. This conference continues to be the only one of its type; that is, a national conference organized by and for AIDS-care social workers. The conference is held in a different city of the country each year, and its location rotates between four regions of the U.S. (Eastern, Western, Midwestern, Southern states).

More than 120 conference presentations on AIDS social work service delivery are given each year in different formats, the vast majority of which are contributed by social workers involved in AIDS-care at hospitals, clinics, universities, AIDS service organizations, community-based 0rganizations and social agencies. Four books on AIDS social work have been published from the proceedings from several past conferences. The conference also offers many networking and social events.

The School has obtained over $1 million in contracts and grants from governmental and corporate sources to expand the offerings of this conference over the years. A partial list of funders includes: HIV/AIDS Bureau, Health Resources and Services Administration, Gilead Sciences, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute of Mental Health, GlaxoSmithKline, and Agouron Pharmaceuticals. The School has also received awards for this conference's contributions from the Council on Social Work Education, the Massachusetts Chapter: National Association of Social Workers and Harlem United Community AIDS Center, New York City.

The conference awards 24.0 hours of social work continuing education credits.

For further information regarding the conference, please contact Vincent J. Lynch, Ph.D., Director, Office of Continuing Education 617.552.4038, vincent.lynch.1@bc.edu.