Optimising community health services in Australia for populations affected by stigmatised infections: What do service users want?

Abstract

Stigma is a complex construct that involves the social exclusion of people perceived to possess a characteristic that is viewed negatively by a broader social group (Goffman, 1963;Scambler, 2009).Once stigma is applied or learned, it manifests itself in a range of stigma experiences such as perceived stigma (Zelaya et al., 2012), discrimination (Stangl et al., 2013 and self-stigma (Rao et al., 2012).The stigma becomes discrimination when negative thoughts, beliefs or attitudes translate into the unfavourable treatment of an