| Janetta Astone-Twerell, PhD,
Shiela M. Strauss, PhD,
Corrine Munoz-Plaza, MPH
National Development and Research Institutes, Inc.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the most common chronic blood-borne infectious disease in the United States, with nearly 4 million people infected. In addition to the physical challenges HCV presents, this illness carries with it a stigma that negatively impacts the quality of life for infected individuals. Some of these negative consequences include reduced self-esteem, diminished mental health, less access to medical care, and fear of disclosing a positive status, with the latter often resulting in limited social support at a time when it is sorely needed. This disease-related stigma is also likely to contribute to hesitancy on the part of some medical providers to treat people infected with HCV.
In attempting to understand such stigma, it is useful to refer to Goffman4 who has written extensively on the subject. He, along with other researchers, has developed a |
