PRESS-NEWS.org - Press Release Distribution
PRESS RELEASES DISTRIBUTION

Stigma has a profound impact on health outcomes must be addressed

Investing in stigma reduction in health care systems will yield results across the care continuum, and should be supported by governments, health-care institution polices, and licensing bodies, say researchers

2024-10-07
(Press-News.org) A new article published in Nature Reviews Disease Primers underscores the profound role that stigma can play in health care -- and how addressing stigma-related barriers can significantly improve health outcomes for individuals and communities around the world. 

“Stigma has harmful effects on health, equity and justice,” says lead author Carmen Logie, a professor at the University of Toronto’s Factor-Inwentash Faculty of Social Work (FIFSW). "And while we need more rigorous evaluation of interventions to reduce health-care stigma, we certainly know enough to begin to confront it.”  

Logie and her co-author Laura Nyblade, a fellow at the Social, Statistical and Environmental Sciences, Research Triangle Institute in Washington DC, argue that health-care providers need to be able to identify what drives stigma in health-care settings, so they can take action to address stigmatizing practices as well as internalized, anticipated or perceived stigmatization on behalf of those in need of care. 

Stigma can play a huge role in health outcomes, say the researchers. For example, health-care providers who view weight as a moral issue or lack of personal willpower, may use stigmatizing language in conversation with patients, contributing to their disengagement from care. People who use drugs may be deemed “junkies”, blamed for their substance use and denied services. In some regions, gender-based stigma has resulted in coerced sterilization and lack of informed choices around contraception and education for women living with HIV.  

The good news, say Logie and Nyblade, is that health-care settings are well positioned to identify what drives stigma and make changes to address it through evidence-based approaches. To start, health-care providers can examine misconceptions about disease transmission and infection control, and then make needed changes to institutional policies and practices. “Increasing health providers’ awareness of how stigma is appearing in the ways they deliver services is key,” says Logie, who is also Canada Research Chair in Global Health Equity and Social Justice with Marginalized Populations. 

In Ghana, for example, staff training and activities to reduce fear of HIV infection was shown to improve the caregivers’ willingness to provide services to people with HIV. In Tanzania, stigmatizing beliefs held by HIV clinic staff around substance use was reduced through interventions that addressed commonly held misconceptions. The interventions also successfully conveyed the impact that stigmatizing language used by health-care providers can have on their patients. 

The researchers argue that relationship building and partnerships between health care providers and communities can enhance the ability of both professionals and their clients to strengthen social cohesion, collective resilience and coping strategies. Social movements and dates of significance, such as weight inclusivity movements and World AIDS Day, are examples of ways that people have come together to advocate for awareness and promote change.  

“These approaches move beyond the focus on stigma victimization to recognize and celebrate the strengths of communities who have been marginalized, as well as social histories of mutual support and stigma resistance,” says Nyblade.  

Investing in stigma reduction in health care systems will yield results across the care continuum, and should be supported by governments, health-care institution polices, and licensing bodies, conclude the authors. 

“All types and levels of health-care providers need to be engaged in stigma reduction, through the training curriculums, continuing education programs, and more” says Logie. “The time to act is now.” 

In addition to her role at FIFSW, Logie is affiliated with the United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, and the Women’s College Research Insitute at Women’s College Hospital in Toronto. 

END


ELSE PRESS RELEASES FROM THIS DATE:

Has the affordable care act’s dependent coverage expansion benefited young adults diagnosed with cancer?

2024-10-07
The federal Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed in 2010 includes a Dependent Coverage Expansion (DCE) provision that permits dependents to remain on their parents’ health insurance plans from age 19 to 25 years, the age group that has historically had the highest uninsured rate in the United States. A recent analysis reveals that during the ACA’s first decade, survival rates of DCE-eligible young adults with cancer have improved. The findings are published by Wiley online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. To examine whether young adults with cancer diagnoses have ...

A new study reveals a key mechanism driving atherosclerosis in Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome

A new study reveals a key mechanism driving atherosclerosis in Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome
2024-10-07
A team of researchers from the Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Cardiovasculares Carlos III (CNIC), the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas Margarita Salas (CIB-CSIC), and the Instituto de Ciencias de Materiales de Madrid (ICMM-CSIC) has made a significant breakthrough in understanding the underlying causes of cardiovascular disease in patients with Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS), an ultra-rare genetic disorder that accelerates the aging process. The most serious consequence of HGPS is the early onset of cardiovascular disease, leading to premature death at an average age of 14.5 years.     The study was led by Dr. Vicente Andrés, ...

HPV vaccination switch to 1-dose gender-neutral approach

2024-10-07
Canadian vaccination programs could switch to a 1-dose gender-neutral human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination approach and eliminate cervical cancer, suggests new modelling in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.240787. “Our results have important policy implications in Canada, and in other similar high-income countries evaluating whether to switch to 1-dose HPV vaccination,” writes Dr. Marc Brisson, a full professor at Laval University, Québec, and director of the Mathematical Modeling and Health Economics of Infectious Diseases Lab at the ...

Scurvy: Not just an 18th-century sailors’ disease

2024-10-07
Scurvy, or vitamin C deficiency, is not just an 18th-century seafarers’ disease, as a case study of a 65-year-old woman with mobility issues and social isolation shows. In an article published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal) https://www.cmaj.ca/lookup/doi/10.1503/cmaj.240769, clinicians describe how scurvy should be considered in patients with abnormal bleeding and nonspecific symptoms. The patient visited the emergency department at a downtown Toronto hospital for leg pain and weakness, skin lesions, and discoloration. She also had several chronic health ...

Scientists discover a secret to regulating our body clock, offering new approach to end jet lag

Scientists discover a secret to regulating our body clock, offering new approach to end jet lag
2024-10-07
Singapore, 7 October 2024—Scientists from Duke-NUS Medical School and the University of California, Santa Cruz, have discovered the secret to regulating our internal clock. They identified that this regulator sits right at the tail end of Casein Kinase 1 delta (CK1δ), a protein which acts as a pace setter for our internal biological clock or the natural 24-hour cycles that control sleep-wake patterns and other daily functions, known as circadian rhythm. Published in the journal PNAS, their findings could ...

Impact of pollutants on pollinators, and how neural circuits adapt to temperature changes

Impact of pollutants on pollinators, and how neural circuits adapt to temperature changes
2024-10-04
The Kavli Foundation and the U.S. National Science Foundation are collaborating to accelerate research in the emerging field of neurobiology in changing ecosystems, stemming from the foundation’s efforts in this area first announced in 2023. A joint Kavli-NSF grantmaking program was launched in December of 2023.  Building on early success of this program, Kavli and NSF announce its continuation with a second call for proposals, open through February 10, 2025, for projects tackling hard problems in this understudied field.  Research ...

Researchers seek to improve advanced pain management using AI for drug discovery

2024-10-04
An estimated one in five Americans live with chronic pain and current treatment options leave much to be desired. Feixiong Cheng, PhD, Director of Cleveland Clinic’s Genome Center, and IBM are using artificial intelligence (AI) for drug discovery in advanced pain management. The team’s deep-learning framework identified multiple gut microbiome-derived metabolites and FDA-approved drugs that can be repurposed to select non-addictive, non-opioid options to treat chronic pain.   The findings, published in Cell Press, represent one of many ways the organizations' Discovery Accelerator partnership is helping ...

‘Neutron Nexus’ brings universities, ORNL together to advance science

‘Neutron Nexus’ brings universities, ORNL together to advance science
2024-10-04
Oak Ridge National Laboratory has launched its Neutron Nexus pilot program with Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University, or FAMU, and Florida State University, or FSU, through the FAMU-FSU College of Engineering. The first program of its kind nationwide, it’s aimed at broadening and diversifying the scientific user community with outreach to universities and colleges to increase collaboration and, ultimately, scientific advancement.  Although a recently planned two-day “ORNL Days” event in Florida was cut ...

Early release from NEJM Evidence

2024-10-04
This article was published Early Release to coincide with a presentation at the Symposium on Advanced Wound Care in Las Vegas, NV. Full text is now available on evidence.nejm.org. Email mediarelations@nejm.org for access. Original Article: Intact Fish Skin Graft to Treat Deep Diabetic Foot Ulcers Dured Dardari, M.D, Ph.D., From the Diabetology Department, Center Hopitalier Sud Francilien, Corbeil-Essonnes, France, and the LBEPS, Université d’Evry, IRBA, Université Paris Saclay, 91025 Evry, France. If you have any questions for our office, please contact our Media Relations ...

UMass Amherst astronomer leads science team helping to develop billion-dollar NASA satellite mission concept

UMass Amherst astronomer leads science team helping to develop billion-dollar NASA satellite mission concept
2024-10-04
October 4, 2024   UMass Amherst Astronomer Leads Science Team Helping to Develop Billion-Dollar NASA Satellite Mission Concept Alexandra Pope, science lead for the PRIMA space telescope, is on team developing next-generation space probe that will explore evolution of the universe   AMHERST, Mass. – A University of Massachusetts astronomy professor is science lead on a $5 million proposal selected by NASA to develop new space satellite missions that bridge gaps in our understanding of the evolution of ...

LAST 30 PRESS RELEASES:

Intra-arterial tenecteplase for acute stroke after successful endovascular therapy

Study reveals beneficial microbes that can sustain yields in unfertilized fields

Robotic probe quickly measures key properties of new materials

Climate change cuts milk production, even when farmers cool their cows

Frozen, but not sealed: Arctic Ocean remained open to life during ice ages

Some like it cold: Cryorhodopsins

Demystifying gut bacteria with AI

Human wellbeing on a finite planet towards 2100: new study shows humanity at a crossroads

Unlocking the hidden biodiversity of Europe’s villages

Planned hydrogen refuelling stations may lead to millions of euros in yearly losses

Planned C-sections increase the risk of certain childhood cancers

Adults who have survived childhood cancer are at increased risk of severe COVID-19

Drones reveal extreme coral mortality after bleaching

New genetic finding uncovers hidden cause of arsenic resistance in acute promyelocytic leukemia

Native habitats hold the key to the much-loved smashed avocado’s future

Using lightning to make ammonia out of thin air

Machine learning potential-driven insights into pH-dependent CO₂ reduction

Physician associates provide safe care for diagnosed patients when directly supervised by a doctor

How game-play with robots can bring out their human side

Asthma: patient expectations influence the course of the disease

UNM physician tests drug that causes nerve tissue to emit light, enabling faster, safer surgery

New study identifies EMP1 as a key driver of pancreatic cancer progression and poor prognosis

XPR1 identified as a key regulator of ovarian cancer growth through autophagy and immune evasion

Flexible, eco-friendly electronic plastic for wearable tech, sensors

Can the Large Hadron Collider snap string theory?

Stuckeman professor’s new book explores ‘socially sustainable’ architecture

Synthetic DNA nanoparticles for gene therapy

New model to find treatments for an aggressive blood cancer

Special issue of Journal of Intensive Medicine analyzes non-invasive respiratory support

T cells take aim at Chikungunya virus

[Press-News.org] Stigma has a profound impact on health outcomes must be addressed
Investing in stigma reduction in health care systems will yield results across the care continuum, and should be supported by governments, health-care institution polices, and licensing bodies, say researchers