BACKGROUND: HIV-related stigmatizing attitudes are persistent concerns in developing countries and have been shown to fuel the spread of the epidemics. The purpose of this study is to provide a comparative analysis between Haiti and the Dominican Republic in regards to the population’s attitude towards People Living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). METHODS: Cross-sectional data from the Demographic Health Surveys involving 15,715 Haitians and 55,170 Dominicans from 2005 to 2007 were used. A score of attitudes was established from six items such as the willingness to care for infected relatives, the willingness to buy vegetables from an HIV infected vendor, the perception that HIV patients should be ashamed of themselves, the agreement to blame and force them to keep their serostatus secret and finally the agreement to allow infected teachers to continue their jobs. Descriptive statistics, univariate and multivariate analyses of selected socio-demographic variables were obtained by using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). RESULTS: Logistic regression models showed that female Dominicans and male Haitians, respondents of higher socio-economic status and with more accurate HIV-related beliefs were significantly more tolerant towards PLWHA (p<.001). Furthermore, the Dominican Republic’s data analysis suggested that those aged between 30 and 44 years old, living in urban areas and married expressed more tolerance for the HIV- infected individuals. Overall, the attitudes and beliefs of the Haitians adjusted for socio-demographic variables did not differ markedly from the Dominicans. CONCLUSION: The attitudes towards PLWHA seem to be associated with the nature of the HIV-related beliefs in some vulnerable groups. The findings of this study should guide the design of appropriate programs aimed at the education of targeted populations.

This study examines how suicide attempt survivors (SASs) decide whether or not to disclose their suicide attempt to close others. The investigation is framed using the revelation risk model (RRM) of disclosure (Afifi & Steuber, 2009) with particular focus on the risk assessment and willingness to disclose components of the model. Additionally, the investigation considers the concept of stigma in an effort to expand how stigma is relevant within the decision to disclose about prior suicide attempts. The sample includes 10 participants recruited from the Live Through This project, a project dedicated to collecting and sharing stories online from suicide attempt survivors. Interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis. Data analysis showed that suicide attempt survivor disclosure generally follows the framework of the RRM. Notably, stigma was shown to be a major factor in the secret valence and risk assessment stages of the model. Additionally, the disclosure decision-making process was found to change over time.

Bakgrund: Forskningen idag visar att psykisk ohälsa ökar globalt. I samhället kan vi se en stigmatiserande och diskriminerande attityd gentemot personer med psykisk ohälsa. Det framgår att denna patientgrupp har ett större behov av vård men att de känner sig orättvist bemötta och behandlade inom hälso- och sjukvården. Syfte: Litteraturöversikten ämnar beskriva attityder hos sjuksköterskor inom somatisk vård gentemot personer med psykisk ohälsa. Metod: Litteraturöversikten har en integrativ metod vilket innebär att både kvalitativa (9) och kvantitativa artiklar (2) har använts för resultatet. Artiklarna är tagna från databaserna MEDLINE, CINAHL och PsycINFO. Alla artiklar har genomsökts för att svara på litteraturstudiens syfte och har kvalitetsgranskats enligt riktlinjer för Hälsohögskolan i Jönköping. Resultat: Efter analys framkom tre teman: Att ha en dömande attityd mot patienten, Undvikande attityder och Empatiska attityder. Slutsats: Diskriminerande och positiva attityder kan hittas hos sjuksköterskor. Däremellan fanns sjuksköterskor som bortprioriterar att vårda patienter med psykisk ohälsa relaterat till yttre och inre omständigheter såsom ansvarsuppfattning, vårdkultur, brist på tillgångar, maktlöshet, hopplöshet. Utbildning och erfarenhet kan enligt litteraturöversiktens resultat ge positiva attityder hos sjuksköterskan under rätt förutsättningar men samhällets syn på personer med psykisk ohälsa verkar vara en stark faktor som påverkar sjuksköterskors attityd. Sjuksköterskans attityd mot personer med psykisk ohälsa korrelerade med samhället hen levde i. / Background: Today's research shows that mental illness is increasing globally. In society, we can see a stigmatizing and discriminatory attitude towards people with mental illness. It appears that this patient group has a greater need for care, but that they feel unfairly treated and cared for in the health and medical care. Aim: The literature review aims to describe attitudes of nurses in somatic care towards people with mental illness. Method: This literature review has an integrative method which means that the result is based on both qualitative (9) and quantitative articles (2) from databases MEDLINE, CINAHL and PsycINFO. All articles have been read thoroughly to correlate to the studys’ aim and their quality has been assessed with guidelines from the School of Health and Welfare in Jönköping. Result: Three main themes emerged: Having a judgmental attitude towards the patient, avoiding attitudes and empathetic attitudes. Conclusion: Discriminatory and positive attitudes can be found in nurses. In between, there are nurses who prioritize caring for patients with mental illness related to external and internal circumstances such as perception of responsibility, care culture, lack of assets, powerlessness and hopelessness. Education and experience can, according to the results of the literature review, give positive attitudes to the nurse under the right conditions, but society's view of persons with mental illness seems to be a strong factor that influences nurses' attitude. The nurse's attitude towards people with mental illness correlated with society lived in.

Political and historical literature largely attributes the political development of the Southern Strategy to the 1964 Barry Goldwater and 1968 Richard Nixon presidential campaigns. The Southern Strategy is commonly explained as the Republican Party’s 1964 campaign decision to abandon Black voters in the North to expand its national political base of support by seeking White voters outside of the South who were angry with the political advancements of the Civil Rights Movement (Aistrup 1996, 5; Bass and DeVries 1976, 27). Discussions of Ronald Reagan’s role in the development of the Southern Strategy describe him more as a beneficiary rather than a significant influence in the Republican Party’s efforts to nationalize Southern racial politics (Aistrup 1996, 12; Black and Black 2002, 4). However, his speeches equated social spending with racial stigmas and pathological behavior. The fusion of economic issues and racial stereotypes has influenced future presidential politics since 1964 with Reagan’s “A Time for Choosing” speech (Reagan 1964). The racialized language used by Reagan in his speech has influenced the rhetorical frame of the Southern Strategy in the last six decades. This qualitative study utilizes content analysis to examine the impact of racially coded language of Democratic and Republican presidents, from Ronald Reagan to Barack Obama, when they argue the legitimacy of the social safety net. The study seeks to expand the knowledge of the prevalence of the politics of pathology, which is defined as the belief that social spending encourages individuals to engage in immoral behavior and is used by presidents to mitigate or cultivate racial resentment.

Bakgrund: Att upptäcka psykisk ohälsa kan vara en utmaning då stigmatisering kring psykisk ohälsa är utbrett. De besvär som kan förekomma vid psykisk ohälsa kan vara diffusa och det kan vara svårt att upptäcka den psykiska ohälsan. Vårdcentralen ofta är den verksamhet personer med psykisk ohälsa vänder sig till för att få hjälp. Statens kommuner och landstings gör satsningar på psykisk ohälsa, där primärvårdens verksamheter är fokusområde med syfte att höja kompetensen hos personalen för att upptäcka psykisk ohälsa i tid. Syfte: Beskriva erfarna sjuksköterskors erfarenhet av att upptäcka psykisk ohälsa hos patienter i det dagliga arbetet på vårdcentralen Metod: En empirisk studie med kvalitativ design med en induktiv ansats. Intervjumaterialet analyserades där kategorier och underkategorier bildades. En etisk egengranskning utfördes enligt riktlinjer för Hälsohögskolan i Jönköping. Resultat: Efter dataanalysen av intervjumaterialet bildades två kategorier, ”En svår utmaning” med underkategorierna, ”De nödvändiga frågorna”, ”Att upptäcka det subtila” samt ”Känsla av kunskapsbrist”. Samt kategorin, ”Stöd efterfrågas” med underkategorierna, ”Riktlinjer, rutiner och checklistor” samt ”Möjlighet till fördjupad kunskap”. Slutsats: Upptäckten av psykisk ohälsa är beroende av en samstämmighet mellan kunskap i ämnet och erfarenhet. I resultatet framkom det att sjuksköterskorna upplevde det svårt att fråga de svåra frågorna angående patientens psykiska mående. Svåra frågor kunde handla om våld i nära relationer, hedersrelaterat våld, bland annat. Stödmaterial efterfrågades för att inte missa viktig patientinformation. Rutiner och stödmaterial fanns för somatisk ohälsa men saknades för psykisk ohälsa. Det framkom även i resultatet att psykisk ohälsa bör lyftas upp på den dagliga agendan. Att arbete med anti-stigmatiseringen bör ske på alla samhällsnivåer, såväl som individ, profession och verksamhet för att bidra till att psykisk ohälsa upptäcks i ett tidigare skede. / Background: Detecting mental health can challenging as stigmatization of mental health is widespread. The symptoms of mental illness may be diffuse and therefore it may be difficult to detect the mental illness. The health center is often the activity people with mental health turn to get help. The state's municipalities and county councils make investments in mental health, where primary care activities are a focus area with the aim of increasing the competence of the professions to detect mental health in time. Aim: Describe the experience of experienced nurses in detecting mental health in patients in their daily work at the health center. Method: An empirical study with qualitative design with an inductive approach. The interview material was analyzed where categories and sub-categories were formed. An ethical self-examination was conducted in accordance with guidelines for Jönköping School of Health. Result: Following the data analysis of the interview material, two categories were formed, ”A difficult challenge”, with the sub-categories, ”The necessary questions”, ”Discovering the subtle” and ”A perceived lack of knowledge”. As well as the category, ”Support is requested” with the sub-categories, ”Guidelines, routines checklists” and ”Opportunities in-depth knowledge”. Conclusion: The discovery of mental illness depends on a between knowledge of subject and experience. The result showed that the nurses found it difficult to ask about questions regarding the patients mental health. Difficult questions could be about violence in the family, honor crime et cetera. Support material was requested for not to miss imported information about the patient. Routin and support material existed for somatic health but not for mental health. The result showed that it is important to work in the daily work for towards anti-stigmatization of mental health, in society, both on an individual level as well as a profession, in order to contribute to detect mental illness.

Bakgrund: Humant immunbristvirus (HIV) fortsätter att vara en betydande global hälsoutmaning och påverkar miljontals individer världen över. Inom hälso- och sjukvården möter individer som lever med HIV ofta stora utmaningar, inklusive stigmatisering och diskriminering. Dessa utmaningar förvärras ytterligare av samhälleliga fördomar och en allmän brist på kunskap om HIV. Sjuksköterskor spelar en avgörande roll i att ge etisk och rättvis vård. Det är viktigt att inte bara fokusera på fysisk hälsa utan också belysa den mentala hälsan, eftersom den är lika viktig. Syfte: Att beskriva upplevelser av utmaningar som individer med HIV-infektion har i mötet med hälso-och sjukvården. Metod: En litteraturöversikt med kvalitativ ansats. Artikelsökningen utfördes i databaserna; PubMed, Cinahl och Web of Science. En djupgående granskning ledde till identifieringen av 12 vetenskapliga artiklar med kvalitativ design. Resultat: I litteraturöversikten framkom hinder för individer som lever med HIV i mötet med hälso- och sjukvården såsom nedsättande bemötande, utmaningar samt avsaknad av stödjande vårdmiljö. Slutsats: Stigmatisering, diskriminering, bristfällig kommunikation samt behov av information är utmaningar i mötet med vården för individer som lever med HIV. Förbättring kräver strukturella förändringar, utbildning och policyutveckling för att möjliggöra en mer inkluderande vårdmiljö för individerna. / Background: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) continues to be a significant global health challenge, affecting millions of individuals worldwide. Within healthcare settings, individuals living with HIV often face substantial challenges, including stigmatization and discrimination. These problems are further exacerbated by societal biases and a general lack of understanding about HIV. Nurses play a crucial role in providing ethical and fair care. It is important to focus not only on physical health but also to highlight mental health, as it is equally important. Purpose: To describe experiences of challenges that individuals with HIV-infection have in encounters with the health care system. Method: A literature review with a qualitative approach. The article search was conducted in the databases; PubMed, Cinahl, and Web of Science. An in-depth review led to the identification of 12 scientific articles with a qualitative-design. Results: In the literature review, obstacles for individuals living with HIV in encounters with healthcare services emerged, such as stigmatizing treatment, challenges, and a lack of supportive care environment. Conclusion: Stigmatization, discrimination, poor communication, and the need for information are challenges in healthcare encounters for these individuals. Improvement requires structural changes, education, and policy development to enable a more inclusive healthcare environment for these individuals.