Impact of health‐related stigma on psychosocial functioning in cancer patients: Construct validity of the stigma‐related social problems scale

Abstract

Stigma can be described as an internalised sense of shame about having an unwanted condition, along with fear of discrimination due to imputed inferiority or unacceptability (Goffman, 1990). Stigma can affect social relationships and psychological and behavioural responses and may lead to adverse health outcomes. Health-related stigmatisation can be defined as a process by which a person is associated with negative properties due to his or her illness (Pachankis et al., 2018). Various signs and symptoms of disease are associated

An Analysis of Cancer Awareness and Stigma Among Malaysia's Non-Patient Population

“…Perhaps, cancer patients should be given extra consideration rather than discriminate in terms of financial assistance to ensure the treatment process goes smoothly and the patient will have good motivation with "Zero Cancer Worries Community". In addition, public should be educated with cancer symptoms in details to make them aware and being helpful rather than being avoidance and skeptical (Ohlsson-Nevo, et al, 2020). Patients suffering from cancer may experience a wide variety of symptoms (Reeve et al, 2014), and it is the responsibility of healthcare providers to identify these patients and provide them with effective treatment as well as supportive care in order to improve patients' quality of life and reduce the likelihood of social stigma.…”

“…According to Table 2, the mean score of 1.98 indicates that most respondents can tolerate cancer patients' conditions, even though most of them had never have the bad perception where the patients being suffered because of their lifestyle and conditions. Younger people, those with university educations, and patients who were professionally active made up the majority of the group of patients who reported higher social dysfunction (Ohlsson-Nevo et al, 2020), which may indicate that their social lives are more restricted to work and family as a result of the cancer diagnosis.…”