Pam Carnine, director of the Story County AIDS Coalition, said lack of support groups for AIDS patients in rural Iowa is a big problem.

“It is difficult to start a support group when there are so few cases of AIDS and they are all spread out among five counties. Des Moines has three or four support groups which meet every month,” Carnine said.

In order for the Story County area to have a support group, people from surrounding counties would have to drive 30 or more miles to attend meetings, she said. Many patients, however, are low income and lack reliable transportation.

“Rural isolation is a real problem when it comes to getting current information out to clients,” Carnine said. “You can’t mail information to small town clients because people in small towns talk. The postmaster knows who everyone is. If you are getting mail with AIDS information, like POS Magazine, the people in the post office will know.”

Carnine said one of the best resources for information is off Internet Web sites and HIV-positive chat rooms. The only problem with the Internet, she said, is limited access.

Most people do not own a computer and many do not wish to use the public library.

There are other resources for AIDS patients.

The AIDS Coalition of Story County, (515) 292-5487, is a large referral service which can get people in contact with the services they need.

The Iowa AIDS Hotline is 1-800-445-2437, and the National AIDS Hotline is 1-800-342-2437.