Idag lever 130-150 miljoner människor med hepatit C vilket utgör ett globalt folkhälsoproblem. Överföring av viruset via blod med orena injektionssprutor är största smittorsaken för hepatit C. Detta har skapat en stark association mellan hepatit C och intravenöst drogmissbruk. Associationen skapar en omfattande stigmatisering och fördomsfullhet gentemot hepatit C-positiva patienter. Syftet med litteraturstudien är att belysa det vårdande mötet mellan sjuksköterskor och patienter med hepatit C. Vi har gjort en litteraturstudie baserat på åtta artiklar som varit både kvalitativa och kvantitativa. För att kunna beskriva personers erfarenheter, upplevelser samt känslor lades fokus på kvalitativa artiklar. Axelssons analysmetod valdes till analysarbetet av artiklar. De studier vi granskat visar på att fördomar hos sjuksköterskor gentemot patienter med hepatit C är vanligt förekommande på grund av bristande kunskap samt kopplingen till intravenöst drogmissbruk. Det framkommer att en ökad kunskap hos sjuksköterskan om hepatit C skapar en bättre attityd och bemötande mot patientgruppen. Ur patienternas perspektiv visar studierna på en upplevelse av brist på information, holistisk vård, förståelse och empati av sjuksköterskan i det vårdande mötet. För att minska hepatit C-positiva patienters upplevelse av stigma bör sjuksköterskan eftersträva ett vårdande möte med ett holistiskt förhållningssätt där patientens samtliga upplevelser av sjukdomen får ta plats. Det är viktigt att sjuksköterskan har en tillfredställande kunskap om hepatit C för att kunna ge adekvat information och undervisning till patienten. Mer utbildning och därmed en ökad kunskap om hepatit C hos sjuksköterskan minimerar risken att fördomar och stigmatisering påverkar det vårdande mötet.

This paper examines the ways in which individuals attempt to present themselves as healthy and fit human beings, according to the principles of dramaturgic self-presentation. Accordingly, Goffman's notions of face work, teamwork, and stigma are used to develop a framework for understanding how self-presentation impacts human interaction. This framework is then applied to a brief examination of the stigma of AIDS. Next, the framework is applied to the presentation of a healthy and fit self. Three issues are considered: what is common to the definition of fitness, what are some of the dimensions that become salient in light of that common definition, and, what strategies for presentation are possible based on the definition and dimensions. Finally, four variables that might affect which presentation strategy is adopted are considered: attractiveness, gender, age, and class. It is suggested that none of these variables operates in isolation and some of the implications for presentation are considered.

Adoption is a social institution that is continually evolving in order to meet the needs of children and adults. The research presented in this dissertation focuses on measuring the current cultural sentiments about the practice of adoption and assessing the stigmatization of adoption and the identities of adoptive parent and adopted child. Drawing from Bruce Link and Jo Phelan's conceptualization of stigma and the assumptions of Affect Control Theory, I provide evidence that adoption and thus adoptive families continue to be stigmatized in the United States. My data indicate that adoptive parents and children are socially differentiated from parents and children who are biologically related. Adopted children, particularly children adopted out of foster care, are perceived more negatively than children who are not. The stereotypical traits predicted by Affect Control Theory for adoptive parents and adopted children indicate that these identities are more negative and notably less powerful than those for biological parents and children. In addition, the expected behavioral patterns between adoptive parents and their adopted children are more ambivalent and less supportive than those of biological children and parents. The predictions made in this work must be tested in future research.

Background: Leprosy has long been associated with stigma and the disease causes a lot of suffering to those affected, not only physically but also emotionally and psychologically due to the effects of stigma. Aim: To describe the nurse’s experiences of leprosy related stigma in the Central Region of Ghana. Methods: A qualitative interview study with semi-structured interviews. Seven individual interviews were conducted four with nurses working at a hospital, specializing in leprosy care, at in the Central Region of Ghana. The data was analyzed using a content analysis based on Graneheim and Lundmans concept. Results: The nurses described an exclusion affecting leprosy patients because of their disease. Significant factors, such as lack of knowledge and social circumstances, could be linked to leprosy related stigma. Discussions: The result was discussed using Watson's theory of human, referring to eight of her ten carative factors. Three main subjects were identified and discussed related to the result. These were educational factors, social factors and stigmatization.

Evidence suggests that people with mental illness experience discrimination by being stigmatised both by the general public and by healthcare professionals. The experience of stigma may result in a delay in seeking professional help, loss of self-esteem and is a serious inhibitor to recovery and social inclusion. Stigma and discrimination are pervasive and despite a number of UK based campaigns, there appears to be no reduction in prevalence. This research compared public attitudes towards mental illness and the mentally ill with mental health service users' perceptions of stigma, identified perceptions of stigma by mental health service users, quantified and qualified these perceptions alongside reported accounts of being stigmatised and made recommendation for strategies to reduce the stigma experienced by people with mental illness. A cross-sectional survey was undertaken and involved the use of a 35-item attitude scale, employed with 132 members of the public and 132 self-selecting service users. Semi-structured interviews and Personal Construct Psychology Repertory Grid techniques were employed with subsets of the sample. Qualitative data was subjected to Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Quantitative data was analysed using inferential statistical tests and Principal Component Analysis. The perception of stigma amongst service users was relatively high and appeared to be pervasive. Male service users reported higher perceptions of stigma than females. The combination of being stigmatised by mental health professionals and the general public appeared to result in self stigma and social exclusion. Recommendations include addressing the causes and mechanism of stigmatisation, the inclusion of service users' perspectives in research and raising awareness, amongst mental health professionals, on how their practice may impact on service users. Further research should address why there is a higher perception of stigma amongst male service users.

For individuals with schizophrenia and their caregivers, psychosocial interventions have been shown to significantly improve recovery and reduce relapse rates. Although this population is underserved and stigmatized, counselors have been excluded from most research into attitudes toward and interventions for these families. Using a stratified random sample survey design, researchers explored the relationships between participating U.S. Licensed Professional Counselors’ attitudes towards, recovery beliefs regarding, familiarity with, desire for social distance from, and interest in providing services to individuals with schizophrenia and their caregivers. Most of the 111 participants (11.1% response rate) identified themselves as female (83.8%) and Caucasian (86.5%). A few participants described themselves as Hispanic (6.3%) or Black or African-American (5.4%). Respondents ranged in age in years from 20’s to 60’s with the largest group in their 40’s. Descriptive statistics indicated that the majority of LPC participants reported low to moderate stigmatizing attitudes, strong beliefs in recovery, and moderate to high interest in providing interventions for people with schizophrenia and their caregivers. Furthermore, almost half of participating LPCs reported already working with individuals with schizophrenia. Bivariate correlations and hierarchical regressions indicated that high interest in providing interventions for this population was significantly correlated (p < .01) with high frequency of already working with the population (large effect), low desire for social distance (medium effect), high desire to help socially (medium effect), and strong beliefs in recovery (small effect). The results support including LPCs in all areas pertaining to interventions, research, and recovery for people with schizophrenia and their caregivers.

HIV is a potentially fatal virus that affects over 1,148,200 people in the United States. Due to the minority status that comes with living with HIV, PLH (people living with HIV) often encounter various aspects of stigma due to HIV, which contributes to suppressed overall psychological quality of life (PQOL).While the relationship between stigma and PQOL in PLH is well documented, little research examines mediators of this relationship. We hypothesized that spirituality (as measured by sense of peace, forgiveness of self and perceived fulfillment of life's goal) mediates the relationship between stigma and PQOL (as measured by depression, mental health and stress). We used an explanatory sequential mixed methods design which utilizes two distinct phases of the research process: quantitative (QUANT) analysis followed by qualitative (QUAL) analysis. Results of the QUANT phase suggest spirituality is a partial mediator in the relationship between stigma and PQOL in PLH. In the QUAL phase, we interviewed 15 PLH to elaborate on the relationships between the three constructs. We found PLH endorsed personalized stigma most frequently. Similarly, our results also indicate PLH experience stress, depression and anxiety as a result of their HIV status. Lastly, participant's interviewed most commonly described their spiritual beliefs as relating to religion or God, which is in contrast to how spirituality was conceptualized in the quantitative portion of our study. In all, QUAL results confirmed QUANT findings, with the one main difference between how spirituality was conceptualized between the QUANT and QUAL qualitative portions of our study. Results highlight the importance of clinicians inquiring about PLH's PQOL, experiences of stigma and spiritual beliefs.

HIV/AIDS is a highly stigmatizing condition that dramatically influences the social relations of those infected with the disease (Herek & Glunt, 1988; Kalichman, 2000). Stigmatized individuals experience interpersonal rejection because of their stigma and this rejection can heighten dispositional sensitivity to rejection (Downey & Feldman, 1996). Increased sensitivity to interpersonal rejection has been shown to decrease relationship satisfaction and lead to relationship dissolution (Downey, Freitas, Michaelis, & Khouri, 1998). Few studies have examined the influence of stigmatization on romantic relationships and little is known about the romantic relationships of people living with HIV/AIDS. The current study examined the role of rejection sensitivity as a mediator in the association between HIV/AIDS stigma and romantic relationship satisfaction. A diverse sample of HIV-positive participants was recruited from Vermont and neighboring states. Participants completed measures of perceived stigma, rejection sensitivity and satisfaction with their current romantic relationship. Disclosure concerns and enacted, or personalized, stigma predicted decreased relationship satisfaction. Rejection sensitivity did not mediate the relationship between stigma and relationship satisfaction. Results suggest that both rejection sensitivity and perceived stigma independently influence relationship satisfaction. The implications of the influence of stigma on romantic relationships are discussed.

Rural communities are by definition less densely populated and more geographically isolated than non-rural communities, which often translates into higher rates of poverty and poor access to health care, especially mental health care. Previous research has found that persons residing in rural communities endorse higher rates of stigmatized beliefs towards individuals with mental illness and subsequently lower rates of professional help-seeking when compared to persons residing in non-rural communities. This study evaluated whether these attitudes were also present among emerging adults (18-24 years old) who had lived in a rural community for at least 10 years and were currently enrolled in a Virginia university. Further, this study extended prior work relating individual values linked to rural residence, stigma and professional (primary care provider and mental health specialist) help-seeking by also evaluating non-professional (spiritual leaders, family and friends) sources of help, a particularly salient source of help in rural communities. Three colleges were sites for recruitment (N=225) and surveys were completed online. Contrary to prediction, no rural cultural variable emerged within the data. Structural equation modeling was used to examine the relation among each of the hypothesized rural cultural variables (religious commitment, internal health locus of control, low emotional openness and family cohesion), stigma towards mental illness and both professional and non-professional help-seeking attitudes and behaviors. Values were entered into models as unique contributors of stigma and help-seeking attitudes. Religious commitment, internal health locus of control and low emotional openness were positively related to stigmatized beliefs towards persons with mental illness. As hypothesized, participants with stigmatized beliefs towards those with mental health concerns also endorsed low levels of professional help-seeking attitudes. However, there were no significant relations for non-professional help-seeking attitudes. Stigma reduced help-seeking behaviors from professional providers and increased help-seeking from religious providers. However, contrary to predictions, persons who endorsed stigma also endorsed prior help-seeking from family members and friends for mental health concerns. Future research can expand these findings by using longitudinal methodology with both rural emerging adults seeking higher education as well as their rural community dwelling counterparts.

Sammanfattning Föreliggande studie syftar till att undersöka vilka positiva respektive negativa faktorer som kan ha en inverkan på återhämtningsprocessen hos individer med psykisk ohälsa. För att inhämta material har sju semistrukturerade djupintervjuer genomförts, alla med individer som har fått någon form av insats via psykiatrin. Resultatet som framkommer visar att medicinering är en central del i återhämtningen då detta har möjliggjort stabilitet i vardagen genom att minska symptom av den psykiska ohälsan. Vidare framkommer det att återhämtningsprocessen påverkas av bemötande, både från professionella, familj och vänner. Påverkan kan vara både negativ och positiv, beroende på om bemötandet är gott eller inte. Slutligen framkommer det även att kunskap och förståelse för den psykiska ohälsan/diagnosen är en central del i återhämtningsprocessen. Det kan bidra till att känslan av skuld och skam minskar samt att individen får lärdom om hur symptomen ska hanteras. För individens nätverk kan denna förståelse och kunskap vara positiv genom att det ger möjlighet för dem att ge rätt sorts stöd och hjälp som individen är i behov av. Resultatet som framkommer i föreliggande studie bidrar till en fördjupad kunskap och förståelse som kan påverka utformningen av hjälpinsatser för individer med psykisk ohälsa.