1. HIV and vicarious stigma in a cohort of people living with HIV in Italy: What happens when the stigma is fueled by healthcare providers?
- Author
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Massaroni, Valentina, Iannone, Valentina, Donne, Valentina Delle, D'Angelillo, Anna, Baldin, Gianmaria, Passerotto, Rosanna, Sangiorgi, Flavio, Steiner, Rebecca Jo, Ciccullo, Arturo, Borghetti, Alberto, Visconti, Elena, and Giambenedetto, Simona Di
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COMMUNICABLE diseases , *HEALTH services accessibility , *ATTITUDES toward illness , *QUESTIONNAIRES , *HIV infections , *HOSPITALS , *DESCRIPTIVE statistics , *PSYCHOLOGY of HIV-positive persons , *LONGITUDINAL method , *ATTITUDES of medical personnel , *MEDICAL appointments , *DISCRIMINATION (Sociology) , *SOCIAL stigma , *PATIENTS' attitudes - Abstract
Vicarious stigma shows how indirect stigmatizing experiences can lead people living with HIV (PLWH) to feel discriminated against. We enrolled 350 PLWH, who were administered a 17-item questionnaire to investigate a subjective experience of stigma experienced in the hospital care setting. We found that at least once 215 PLWH (61.4%) did not want the HIV exemption indicated on the prescription for a specialist medical visit, 232 PLWH (66.3%) never used their HIV-related exemption to make a specialist medical visit, 230 PLWH (65.7%) avoided undergoing a medical assessment outside the infectious disease clinics and 241 patients (68.9%) felt unwelcome during a specialist medical visit. Moreover, 241 patients (61.1%) had heard at least once stories of health workers who did not want to touch PLWH, 213 patients (60.9%) had heard stories at least once of PLWH who had been mistreated by hospital staff, 180 patients (51.4%) had at least once heard stories about PLWH being refused treatment and services and 257 patients (73.4%) had at least once heard stories about health workers talking publicly about PLWH. This is a little explored area, especially regarding the vicarious stigma faced by PLWH. Our findings indicate the importance of combating HIV-related stigma for the wellbeing of PLWH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
- Published
- 2024
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