until the worst happens and the stigma bleeds into the very places you depend on for care, advice, support and solace.
my mom will tell you countless stories of healthcare providers donning gloves, masks (before they were de rigueur), face shields — even hazmat suits — during routine appointments that involved no more than a discussion or a physical examination. no bodily fluids here, people, and yet, my brother, and many others like him, were made to feel like pariahs by those who were supposed to protect them, care for them and show compassion and empathy. the ones who should have known better.
those days are in the distant past for my family, but health condition-related stigma — which, according to
bmc medicine, can take the shape of refusing care, providing poor or ineffective care, physical and verbal abuse, making patients wait longer or passing them off to junior colleagues, and
using stigmatizing language in a patient’s medical record — continues to be alive and well in our hospitals and care facilities. in fact, hiv continues to be at the top of the list of diseases that are stigmatized by healthcare providers, right along with
cancer, substance use and mental illness.
there are others too: obesity (often associated with laziness and a lack of intelligence), hpv (often associated with reckless sexual behaviour) and irritable bowel syndrome (patients are often not believed because of vague symptoms) are just a few.
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