Medical students act as Big Brothers/Big Sisters to support human immunodeficiency virus-infected children's psychosocial needs

J. Tess, C. Baier, E. J. Eckenfels and R. Yogev
Department of Preventive Medicine, Rush-Presbyterian-St Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, Ill., USA.

OBJECTIVE: To address the special psychosocial and emotional needs and concerns of human immunodeficiency virus-infected children through a medical student-based Big Brother/Big Sister program. DESIGN: A telephone survey of 9 medical students who participated in the program in the last 4 years was undertaken to assess their experiences and feelings about the program. RESULTS: The experiences resulting from participation in the program were unanimously positive. The medical students stated that in no other medical setting were they able to develop a better understanding of the feelings and emotions of living with a terminal illness. The volunteers also believed that the program increased the benefits for the child and the medical student. CONCLUSIONS: Initial evaluation of the Big Brother/Big Sister program for human immunodeficiency virus-infected children suggests that it helped establish a strong, supportive relationship between the affected child and the medical student. A modified program in other medical schools may help to serve many other communities affected by the human immunodeficiency virus epidemic.