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what is the stigma attached to hiv persons
what is the stigma attached to hiv persons
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My preparation for this assignment began with a review of the Healthy People initiative that was developed by the Department of Health and Human Services. There are many ongoing health issues that our healthcare system is currently dealing with. The Healthy People initiative is a set of goals and objectives designed to guide national health promotion and disease prevention to improve the health of all people in the United States (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). The population health issue I’ve chosen for my policy developing campaign is HIV stigma reduction. In this assignment I will illustrate the significant impact of the stigma towards the population infected with HIV/AIDS and suggest a potential advocacy campaign to decrease the incidence of this epidemic. I will also address some of the legal, regulatory and ethical considerations regarding this initiative.
An Overview: HIV Epidemic
“In 1980, a life-threatening human immune dysfunction of unknown origins was noticed in Central Africa, Europe, and the United States” (Poindexter, 2007, p. 6). In 1981, in the United States, the disease was first reported to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). HIV stands for human immunodeficiency virus. It is the virus that can lead to acquired immunodeficiency syndrome, or AIDS. Unlike numerous other viruses, the human body cannot rid itself of HIV. That means that once you have HIV, you have it for life (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 2013). Currently, no cure exists for HIV. Thankfully, with giant leaps in today’s medical and technological advancements in pharmaceutical research this disease is now considered to be a chronic condition. Today, with proper medical management and compliance the infected p...
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... Dhanireddy, S. (2012). HIV/AIDS: Legal & Ethical Issues. Retrieved from http://depts.washington.edu/nwaetc/presentations/uploads/79/legal_issues_and_hiv.pdf
Milstead, J. A. (2013). Health Policy and Politics (4th ed.). Burlington, MA: World Headquarters Jones & Bartlett Learning, LLC
Poindexter, C. C. (2007). Management Successes and Struggles for AIDS Service Organizations. Administration in Social Work, 31(3), 5-23.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (2010). Healthy People 2020. Retrieved from http://www.healthypeople.gov/2020/TopicsObjectives2020/pdfs/HP2020_brochure_with_LHI_508.pdf
Zukoski, A. P., & Thorburn, S. (2009, November 4). Experience of Stigma and Discrimination among Adults Living with HIV in a Low HIV-Prevalence Context: A Qualitative Analysis. AIDS Patient Care and STDs, 23(), 267-275.
http://dx.doi.org/10.1089/apc.2008.0168
From alcoholics, drug addicts, people of obesity, those carrying HIV/AIDS, or people of mental illness, stigma has caused discrimination and abuse to those characterized into these groups. Stereotyping, a form of stigma, is when something is labeled and linked with undesired characteristics. From the documentary, the audience learns that alcoholics and drug addicts are stereotyped in many parts of the community. In healthcare for example, addicts seeking help are only treated for addiction symptoms such as dehydration or anxiety, and not the underlying problem. An important part in in recovery is “the construction of a positive sense of self” (Hill, Leeming, 2014). Beverely Haberle, a former cancer patient in The Anonymous People, could not understand how she is offered support and outreach of treatment but those of addiction do not. The standard of care is found to be unequal do to public perception, and it must take those to speak out to make a differences in the stigma evolved around addiction. Until those attributes are addressed, many will suffer limited resources and unequal
HIV is a serious issue that is commonly pushed off and considered an irrelevant topic. In “AIDS, Inc.” by Helen Epstein, the topics of lifestyle brands and government funded organizations were discussed, and provided readers with an understanding of the depths of the disease. The excerpt discusses programs (i.e. loveLife) that had the potential and opportunity to save and inform many lives, but failed to do so, which continues to be a problem today. Our government is capable of helping and educating those who are infected, and anyone who could become infected. Instead of acting like having the disease is something to be ashamed of, governments should fund clinics that provide free HIV testing and free protection to all genders, create a structured
Same-sex marriage is now legal, spouses now have rights to pension benefits, continued insurance coverage, immigration laws are applied, as well as the right to tax filing status. Most people are allowing themselves to be more educated when it comes to homosexuality. Nurses who are more empathetic and compassionate tend to be those who work among PLWHA, or people living with HIV and AIDS, and are associated with lower feelings of psychological distress. There are also several studies that depict the more negative attitudes of health care providers towards patients with HIV/AIDS for reasons such a general fear of working with the terminally ill, perceptions of personal risk, being professionally adjudicated upon, fear of contracting the disease, and the unwillingness to work with patient populations including but not limited to homosexuals and intravenous drug users. These findings are consistent with Allport’s social psychology theory of intergroup contact (SOURCE), a theory that describes a weakened prejudice caused by increased contact with “an out-group” leading to a more positive attitude toward that group. In regards to nurses, it was found that the perception of stigma related to HIV influences their job satisfaction significantly. Research has also shown that
...be pathway to autonomy by supporting a person’s entitlement to make decisions about their own health and health care (Feinsod & Wagner, 2008). It is a person’s right to know when they seek medical treatment it will be delivered with no bias or discrimination. This can be achieved by continuing AIDS education in health care facilities and to their staff. The education would also benefit society. The health care community has an ethical duty to do whatever is needed to ensure that all patients, including those with AIDS, gain from the most current treatments. Nurses have many roles in patient care. Expanding some of those roles, in order to determine the various aspects of a patient’s life, to help organize services to start/continue the most current treatment available to AIDS patients, may assist in minimizing the fear of discrimination in the clinical setting.
Additionally, individuals who are HIV positive will likely try to hide their diagnosis, resulting in the avoidance of treatment or inconsistency of treatment among other dangerous behaviours. Finally, the stigma of HIV/AIDS has been found to result in the denial of services and discrimination which can make accessing care more difficult. Understanding the full affects of HIV/AIDS stigma on health and disease prevalence could help reduce the incidents of HIV/AIDS. Finally, it could improve quality of life for individuals diagnosed with
As the HIV virus pandemic arose, so did the voices of a plethora of distinct individuals- victims who were infected with this life long curse. However, these victims were unaware of their intimate partner’s sickly condition. In this case, the partner failed to disclose that he/she was HIV positive. As a result, in 1990, the tables started to turn. The victims, who were unaware of the risk they were taking with their partner, finally became the center of attention. (Wallace, 2005) Since 2004, in California, it has been considered a felony when the infected person recognizes that he/she is HIV positive, when he/she has not informed his/her partner, and when he/she intends to pass it on. (California department of Health Services, 2004) Even though the establishment of the law was based on good intentions for the sake of potential victims, problems were solved as new ones began. Some people support the law because it benefits the partner who is at risk. Others in society argue that the la...
Maguire, C., McNally, C., Britton, P., Werth, J., & Borges, N. (2008). Challenges of Work: Voices of Persons with HIV Disease. The Counseling Psychologist, 42-49.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, (2012). Refocusing national attention on the hiv crisis in the united states. Retrieved from website: http://www.cdc.gov/nchhstp/newsroom/docs/2012/AAAFactSheet-0712-508c.pdf
I share the opinion that the higher rate of HIV infection in the world stems in part from failure of personal responsibility and inattention to warnings from HIV/AIDS advocates, physicians and community organizations. However there are other elements that play an imperative role in the devastation that HIV/AIDS is causing in poor and minority communities according to the article “America’s Epidemic” by Gloria Browne Marshal.
Stigma is a devastating feeling at the individual level because it leads to feelings of shame, guilt, and isolation. Such negative attitudes is caused by omissions or actions of others which is causing even deeper suffering and enhance of the stigmatized group advocating the fact that they are denying certain services such as the right to healthcare or education. Such actions constitute discrimination and leads toward human rights abuses. Discrimination occurs when a particular person because of the actual or perceived membership of a particular group puts in an unequal and disadvantaged position compared to others. Because the stigma is almost always accompanied by discrimination, people with HIV/AIDS are disabled in the re...
Kippax, S., Stephenson, N., Parker, R. G., & Aggleton, P. (2013, August). Between individual agency and structure in HIV prevention understanding the middle ground of social practice [Journal]. American Journal of Public Health, 103 (8), 1367-1375. http://dx.doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2013.301301
When HIV (Human immunodeficiency virus) was first discovered as a disease in 1980, the affected individuals were stigmatized to the extreme. HIV/AIDS (acquired immune deficiency syndrome) was first reported with homosexuals and IV drug users, which led the Center for Disease Control (CDC) to label the disease as Gay-related Immune Deficiency, as “gay” individuals were synonymous “drug users” due to their similar activities in the 1980’s (Stine 22). However, it soon became clear that female population were just as susceptible to contracting HIV as males.
...s been made evident that disclosure can cause loss of employment, the breakdown of relationships and families as well as rejection from sexual partners. Consequently, those who suffer from the issues that come with disclosure also suffer from poor mental health and low self-esteem. Additionally, the article also states that, “leading a double life is psychologically disturbing” positing the unseemly notion that experiencing discrimination due to HIV status is not harmful to an individual’s mental health, despite copious evidence that it has an extremely detrimental affect on mental health, and in some cases, physical health.
From the moment scientists identified HIV and AIDS, social responses of fear, denial, stigma and discrimination have accompanied the epidemic. Discrimination has spread rapidly, fuelling anxiety and prejudice against the groups most affected, as well as those living with HIV or AIDS. It goes without saying that HIV and AIDS are as much about social phenomena as they are about biological and medical concerns. Across the world the global epidemic of HIV/AIDS has shown itself capable of triggering responses of compassion, solidarity and support, bringing out the best in people, their families and communities. But the disease is also associated with stigma, repression and discrimination, as individuals affected (or believed to be affected) by HIV have been rejected by their families, their loved ones and their communities. This rejection holds as true in the rich countries of the north as it does in the poorer countries of the south.
This paper will be analyzing the concept of HIV patients dealing with stigma in their community, precisely in sub-Saharan Africa (Uganda). Stigma is a complex concept that is associated with “immoral people” or people who are termed as unworthy of quality treatment by others. However, when working with HIV/AIDS patients’ stigma and discrimination becomes the behaviour used in the community to isolate these group of people. Therefore, discrimination refers to the wrongful way an individual is treated due to their HIV status or their perceived status and stigma is when an individual is humiliated and/or treated as a cast away. Furthermore, Mbonye et. al. (2013) identifies social stigma and in many African communities this is what keeps individual away from checking their health status or getting proper medical assistance after diagnosis. However, sero-sorting has become a process HIV/AIDS patients use to reduce stigma by paring up with another HIV/AIDS patient (especially due to sexual relationships) to eliminate guilt and stigma from the community.