Interventions to Reduce HIV/AIDS Stigma: What Have We Learned?

Abstract

This article reviews 22 studies that test a variety of interventions to decrease AIDS stigma in developed and developing countries. This article assesses published studies that met stringent evaluation criteria in order to draw lessons for future development of interventions to combat stigma. The target group, setting, type of intervention, measures, and scale of these studies varied tremendously. The majority (14) of the studies aimed to increase tolerance of persons living with HIV/AIDS (PLHA) among the general population. The remaining studies tested interventions to increase willingness to treat PLHA among health care providers or improve coping strategies for dealing with AIDS stigma among PLHA or at-risk groups. Results suggest some stigma reduction interventions appear to work, at least on a small scale and in the short term, but many gaps remain especially in relation to scale and duration of impact and in terms of gendered impact of stigma reduction interventions.

Psychological and Social Correlates of HIV Status Disclosure: The Significance of Stigma Visibility

“…Such interventions can focus on empowering PLWH, developing disclosure skills in PLWH, and providing information to disclosure targets that is likely to reduce negative responses (e.g., information indicating that HIV cannot be spread through casual social contact, information showing that PLWH can live long and healthy lives with HAART). For additional recommendations on how to reduce negative reactions to HIV status disclosure, see Bos, Schaalma, and Pryor (2008) and Brown, Macintyre, and Trujillo (2003). Clearly, the creation of supportive environments for PLWH and the development of HIV-related stigma reduction interventions are imperative to the promotion of positive HIV-status disclosure experiences.…”

Low-cost tools for diagnosing and monitoring HIV infection in low-resource settings

“…15 Also, since speedy testing is critical in prescribing intrapartum prophylactic therapy and antiretroviral drugs to prevent mother-to-child transmission, rapid HIV testing has had a positive effect on programmes to prevent HIV infection. 6,16 Fear of stigmatization from testing positive for HIV can deter at-risk individuals from seeking consultation 17 and can make people reluctant to disclose their HIV status. The use of saliva and urine specimens for rapid testing offers a discrete alternative to bloodbased tests in settings where stigma, lack of education, cultural practices and privacy concerns undermine HIV prevention.…”

Laying the Foundation for Connect to Protect ®: A Multi-Site Community Mobilization Intervention to Reduce HIV/AIDS Incidence and Prevalence among Urban Youth

“…HIV/AIDS-related stigma is widely acknowledged as a barrier to public health efforts related to: HIV test-seeking and other preventive behaviors; care-seeking behavior upon diagnosis; quality of care provided to HIV-positive patients; disclosure of diagnoses to others; and the perceptions and treatment of persons living with HIV/AIDS by communities, families and partners. [59][60][61] …”