Privacy Worry May Keep HIV Patients from Therapy
Patients infected with HIV are often concerned about2 the confidentiality of their HIV-positive status. In fact, some patients are so worried that they will actually give up treatment to prevent the release of this information, according to a report published in the August issue of AIDS Care.
Dr. Kathryn Whetten-Goldstein and colleagues from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina3, studied the confidentiality issues of 15 HIV-infected patients from rural North Carolina locations. They were divided into groups designed to explore their attitudes toward, and experiences with, breaches in confidentiality.
“The fear of a breach in confidentiality is definitely affecting the care that HIV-infected patients receive,” Whetten-Goldstein said. “Most studied patients had experienced or knew someone who had experienced a breach in confidentiality.”
“Two types of breaches occurred,”Whetten-Goldstein noted. “The first was a more obvious type of breach. One example was a nurse who told her child that her patient was HIV-positive out of concern that her child would play with the patient’s child.4”
“The other type of breach was more subtle, one that providers might not consider breaches, 5” Whetten-Goldstein explained. “This type of breach involves providers talking about a patient’s HIV status without the patient’s knowledge of the interaction.”
“The law allows the sharing of information between providers within the same institution, but patient’s consent must be obtained before providers at different institutions can share information,” she pointed out.
“Patients in the study wanted providers to tell them when they are going to share information with other providers and why it is being done,” Whetten-Goldstein said. “They also felt that providers should be punished when a breach occurs.”
“However, because patients are often reluctant to seek legal action which may further expose their status, they felt that the system should regulate itself,” she added.
詞匯：
privacy /'pr?v?s?/ n.隱私,秘密
breach /bri?t?/ n.破壞,違反
therapy /'θer?p?/ n.療法,治療
consent /k?n'sent/ n.答應(yīng),允許
confidentiality /,k?nf?,den??'?l?t?/ n.保密性
regulate /'regj?le?t/ vt.調(diào)整
注釋：
1.HIV (human immunodeficiency virus):人類(lèi)免疫缺陷病毒
2.be concerned about:為……而擔(dān)心(憂慮、煩惱)
3. North Carolina：(美國(guó))北卡羅來(lái)納州
4.One example was... with the patient’s child.例子之一就是某個(gè)護(hù)士由于擔(dān)心自己的孩子會(huì)與病人的孩子一起玩,所以就告訴自己的孩子,這個(gè)病人是HIV陽(yáng)性的病人。本句中who 至the patient’s child 是nurse 的定語(yǔ)從句,其中that her patient was HIV-positive又是told的賓語(yǔ)從句;out of concern (出于擔(dān)心)是介詞短語(yǔ),作told的狀語(yǔ);而that her child would play with the patient’s child 則是concern的同位語(yǔ)從句。
5.one that providers might not consider breaches：即醫(yī)生可能不認(rèn)為是泄露個(gè)人機(jī)密的一類(lèi)。one是代詞,代替type,作the other type的同位語(yǔ)，that至breaches是one的定語(yǔ)從句，that在定語(yǔ)從句中作consider的賓語(yǔ)，breaches是賓語(yǔ)補(bǔ)足語(yǔ)。而provider則是指美國(guó)經(jīng)保險(xiǎn)公司認(rèn)可為投保人看病的醫(yī)生。
練習(xí)：
1.All patients in the study refuse to receive any treatment because of the possibility to expose their HIV status.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
2.Worry about breaches in confidentiality of the HIV status has nothing to do with the curative effects on patients.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
3.Medical workers of an institution cannot freely provide their HTV-patients’ information to those of other institutions.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
4.Whether an HIV-infected patient agrees to other (not his)medical workers’ sharing the information about his HIV status is one of the rights given by the constitution.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
5.Most patients in the study strongly object to the breaches in the confidentiality of their HIV status.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
Patients infected with HIV are often concerned about2 the confidentiality of their HIV-positive status. In fact, some patients are so worried that they will actually give up treatment to prevent the release of this information, according to a report published in the August issue of AIDS Care.
Dr. Kathryn Whetten-Goldstein and colleagues from Duke University, Durham, North Carolina3, studied the confidentiality issues of 15 HIV-infected patients from rural North Carolina locations. They were divided into groups designed to explore their attitudes toward, and experiences with, breaches in confidentiality.
“The fear of a breach in confidentiality is definitely affecting the care that HIV-infected patients receive,” Whetten-Goldstein said. “Most studied patients had experienced or knew someone who had experienced a breach in confidentiality.”
“Two types of breaches occurred,”Whetten-Goldstein noted. “The first was a more obvious type of breach. One example was a nurse who told her child that her patient was HIV-positive out of concern that her child would play with the patient’s child.4”
“The other type of breach was more subtle, one that providers might not consider breaches, 5” Whetten-Goldstein explained. “This type of breach involves providers talking about a patient’s HIV status without the patient’s knowledge of the interaction.”
“The law allows the sharing of information between providers within the same institution, but patient’s consent must be obtained before providers at different institutions can share information,” she pointed out.
“Patients in the study wanted providers to tell them when they are going to share information with other providers and why it is being done,” Whetten-Goldstein said. “They also felt that providers should be punished when a breach occurs.”
“However, because patients are often reluctant to seek legal action which may further expose their status, they felt that the system should regulate itself,” she added.
詞匯：
privacy /'pr?v?s?/ n.隱私,秘密
breach /bri?t?/ n.破壞,違反
therapy /'θer?p?/ n.療法,治療
consent /k?n'sent/ n.答應(yīng),允許
confidentiality /,k?nf?,den??'?l?t?/ n.保密性
regulate /'regj?le?t/ vt.調(diào)整
注釋：
1.HIV (human immunodeficiency virus):人類(lèi)免疫缺陷病毒
2.be concerned about:為……而擔(dān)心(憂慮、煩惱)
3. North Carolina：(美國(guó))北卡羅來(lái)納州
4.One example was... with the patient’s child.例子之一就是某個(gè)護(hù)士由于擔(dān)心自己的孩子會(huì)與病人的孩子一起玩,所以就告訴自己的孩子,這個(gè)病人是HIV陽(yáng)性的病人。本句中who 至the patient’s child 是nurse 的定語(yǔ)從句,其中that her patient was HIV-positive又是told的賓語(yǔ)從句;out of concern (出于擔(dān)心)是介詞短語(yǔ),作told的狀語(yǔ);而that her child would play with the patient’s child 則是concern的同位語(yǔ)從句。
5.one that providers might not consider breaches：即醫(yī)生可能不認(rèn)為是泄露個(gè)人機(jī)密的一類(lèi)。one是代詞,代替type,作the other type的同位語(yǔ)，that至breaches是one的定語(yǔ)從句，that在定語(yǔ)從句中作consider的賓語(yǔ)，breaches是賓語(yǔ)補(bǔ)足語(yǔ)。而provider則是指美國(guó)經(jīng)保險(xiǎn)公司認(rèn)可為投保人看病的醫(yī)生。
練習(xí)：
1.All patients in the study refuse to receive any treatment because of the possibility to expose their HIV status.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
2.Worry about breaches in confidentiality of the HIV status has nothing to do with the curative effects on patients.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
3.Medical workers of an institution cannot freely provide their HTV-patients’ information to those of other institutions.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
4.Whether an HIV-infected patient agrees to other (not his)medical workers’ sharing the information about his HIV status is one of the rights given by the constitution.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned
5.Most patients in the study strongly object to the breaches in the confidentiality of their HIV status.
A. Right B. Wrong C. Not mentioned