Experiences of Social Stigma among Patients Tested Positive for COVID-19 and their Family Members: A Qualitative Study
| Main Authors: | Chii-Chii Chew, Xin-Jie Lim, Chee-Tao Chang, Nordin Nasir, Philip Rajan, Wah-Yun Low |
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| Format: | Proceeding poster Journal |
| Bahasa: | eng |
| Terbitan: |
, 2020
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: |
https://zenodo.org/record/4012779 |
Daftar Isi:
- Introduction Stigmatized people attributed to infectious diseases may experience • rejections from partners, family, friends, dismissal from work, and declined quality of health services received • causing alienation, depression, or anxiety Social stigma against persons affected by COVID-19 may have been negatively impacted their emotion, mental, and physical well-being. Objective To explore the experience of social stigma among COVID-19 positive patients and their family members. Methodology Study Design Exploratory Qualitative Study using In-Depth Telephone Interview Duration Apr to Jun 2020 Study population Malaysian adults, 18-65 years old. Patient: tested positive for COVID-19 recovered, and discharged home for at least one month Family member: tested negative for COVID-19, have been residing with the patients for at least once a week to provide care and support on a regular basis Sampling Purposive Sampling, cold call method (12 patients, 6 family members) Analysis Thematic analysis Discussion Stigma experience of COVID-19 inflicted group were similar experience to those affected by other infectious disease e.g. HIV/TB. Stigma in health facilities. Stigma against person suspected with and recovered from COVID-19 by the health workers in health facilities. Overcome stigma in health facilities. Teach health workers about stigma, its manifestations and effect on patients’ health. Engage health workers to be in contact with the stigmatized group. Empowered the stigmatized group to improve coping mechanism. Contributing factors of stigma in general public: Lack of understanding & knowledge. Misconceptions & misinformation on this disease. Interventions: require collaboration of stakeholders from different fields including the government, health workers, the public and key opinion leaders. MOHM has informed the public about ‘do and don’ts’ when interacting with COVID-19 patients & their family members. To provide accurate information on disease prevention, treatment options, accessibility of health care to be disseminated to the public in plain language. Authorities, media and recovered persons to share sympathetic narratives that humanize the experiences and struggles of the infected patients or family members. Conclusion The recovered patients and their family have been isolated, labelled, and stereotyped for contacted COVID19. Non-disclosure was mainly due to fear and lack of public understanding of the COVID-19 disease. Social stigma mitigation requires the collaboration of stakeholders from different fields include sharing of experience from the recovered patients.