The stigma of pigmentary disorders

One of the major barriers to individuals with pigmentary disorders in achieving their life goals is the stigma of their disorder. This paper provides a review of the existing research regarding stigma reduction, focusing on public stigma, and looking at approaches used within the mental health and other stigmatized communities. A main focus of pigmentary disorder advocates is to eliminate this stigma to remove the barrier it has on success and self-efficacy. Approaching this task from a perspective well-informed by previous research is important to both ensure that stigma reduction resources are spent wisely, and that anti-stigma approaches are effective

Structural Levels of Mental Illness Stigma and Discrimination

Most of the models that currently describe processes related to mental illness stigma are based on individual-level psychological paradigms. In this article, using a sociological paradigm, we apply the concepts of structural discrimination to broaden our understanding of stigmatizing processes directed at people with mental illness. Structural, or institutional, discrimination includes the policies of private and governmental institutions that intentionally restrict the opportunities of people with mental illness. It also includes major institutions' policies that are not intended to discriminate but whose consequences nevertheless hinder the options of people with mental illness. After more fully defining intentional and unintentional forms of structural discrimination, we provide current examples of each. Then we discuss the implications of structural models for advancing our understanding of mental illness stigma, including the methodological challenges posed by this paradigm

Peer navigators to promote engagement of homeless African Americans with serious mental illness in primary care

Homeless African Americans with serious mental illness experience higher rates of morbidity and mortality than adults with severe mental illness alone. Peer navigators, individuals with similar lived experiences, may help these individuals navigate the healthcare system to improve healthcare utilization. This study examined whether the Peer Navigator Program (PNP) improved scheduling and achieving healthcare appointments compared to treatment as usual (TAU) over the course of 12 months, including three periods within that timeframe: engagement (first three months), impact (middle six months), and maintenance (final six months). Results indicated no change during the first three months of the study, a significantly greater improvement in scheduled and achieved appointments for PNP compared to TAU during the middle six months, and maintenance of appointment change improvements over the final three months of the study. This research suggests peer navigators may offer a promising solution to barriers in utilizing the healthcare system for people with severe mental illness, especially those who may be homeless or from minority racial groups

Does the peer-led Honest, Open, Proud program reduce stigma’s impact for everyone? An individual participant data meta-regression analysis

Purpose Many people with mental illness experience self-stigma and stigma-related stress and struggle with decisions whether to disclose their condition to others. The peer-led Honest, Open, Proud (HOP) group program supports them in their disclosure decisions. In randomized controlled trials, HOP has shown positive effects on self-stigma and stigma stress on average. This study examined individual predictors of HOP outcomes and tested the hypothesis that stigma stress reduction at the end of HOP mediates positive HOP effects at follow-up. Methods Six RCTs were included with data at baseline, post (after the HOP program) and at 3- or 4-week follow-up. Baseline variables were entered in meta-regression models to predict change in self-stigma, stigma stress, depressive symptoms and quality of life among HOP participants. Mediation models examined change in stigma stress (post) as a mediator of HOP effects on self-stigma, depressive symptoms, and quality of life at follow-up. Results More shame at baseline, and for some outcomes reduced empowerment, predicted reduced HOP effects on stigma stress, self-stigma, depressive symptoms, and quality of life. Younger age was related to greater improvements in stigma stress after the HOP program. Stigma stress reductions at the end of HOP mediated positive effects on self-stigma, depressive symptoms and quality of life at follow-up. Conclusion Participants who are initially less burdened by shame may benefit more from HOP. Stigma stress reduction could be a key mechanism of change that mediates effects on more distal outcomes. Implications for the further development of HOP are discussed

Stigma in the context of schools: analysis of the phenomenon of stigma in a population of university students

Background Students have stereotyped views about people with mental illness. In particular, they believe that these persons are incurable, dangerous, unpredictable and responsible for their condition. This study aims to investigate the levels of public stigma in an Italian university population. Methods The Attribution Questionnaire 27 - Italian Version (AQ-27-I) was administered to a sample of students from the Faculty of Medicine and Surgery of the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia. After examining the psychometric characteristics of the AQ-27-I (Cronbach’s Alpha and Confirmatory Factor Analysis), multiple linear regression analyses were carried out to identify the predictors of stigmatizing attitudes in this population. Results Three hundred and eleven students completed the questionnaire, with a response rate of 32.81 % (out of the 948 contacted by email). The AQ-27-I showed good psychometric properties with an α = .68, and the fit indices of the models that partially supported the factor structure and paths. The two variables identified as possible predictors of stigmatizing attitudes (total score of AQ-27-I) were age and time spent reading newspapers. Conclusions Antistigma campaigns are needed in university contexts, targeted in particular to students in health professions

Film as architectural theory

Publications on architectural theory have predominantly taken on the form of text-based books, monographs, and articles. With the rise of transdisciplinary and practice-based research in architecture, new opportunities are opening up for other forms of architectural theory, such as film-based mediums, which promise to expand and alter the convention of the written practice of theory. Two possible types of filmic theory are presented here. One follows the method of ethnographic documentary filmmaking inspired by Sarah Pinkfilm-based mediums, which promise to expand and alter thellows the line of art house filmmaking inspired by Kathryn Rameyyn Rameyg inspired by Sarah Pinkfilm-based mediums, which promise to expand ae to expand ad mediums, which promise to expand a convention of the written practice of theory. or constructing knowledge, new discourses on filmic theory can be opened up. It is argued here that film as architectural theory is part of this new discourse, broadening the audience’u engagement with architecture through not only “readership” but also “viewership.

Three Strategies for Changing Attributions about Severe Mental Illness

The effects of three strategies for changing stigmatizing attitudes—education (which replaces myths about mental illness with accurate conceptions), contact (which challenges public attitudes about mental illness through direct interactions with persons who have these disorders), and protest (which seeks to suppress stigmatizing attitudes about mental illness)—were examined on attributions about schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses. One hundred and fifty-two students at a community college were randomly assigned to one of the three strategies or a control condition. They completed a questionnaire about attributions toward six groups—depression, psychosis, cocaine addiction, mental retardation, cancer, and AIDS—prior to and after completing the assigned condition. As expected, results showed that education had no effect on attributions about physical disabilities but led to improved attributions in all four psychiatric groups. Contact produced positive changes that exceeded education effects in attributions about targeted psychiatric disabilities: depression and psychosis. Protest yielded no significant changes in attributions about any group. This study also examined the effects of these strategies on processing information about mental illness