Social Stigma Related to COVID-19 Disease Described by Primary and Secondary School Teachers and Adolescents Living With HIV in Western Kenya

Introduction: Understanding community members' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus and the prevalence of associated stigma are critical steps for increasing accurate public health knowledge, encouraging uptake of preventative or mitigating health behaviors, and ul...

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Autores principales:	Ashley Chory, Winstone Nyandiko, Celestine Ashimosi, Josephine Aluoch, Roxanne Martin, Whitney Biegon, Dennis Munyoro, Edith Apondi, Rachel Vreeman
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	Frontiers Media S.A. 2021
Materias:	COVID-19 stigma teachers HIV Kenya Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/11d8815399f8452eb5d22f9813392276
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:11d8815399f8452eb5d22f98133922762021-11-17T05:18:12ZSocial Stigma Related to COVID-19 Disease Described by Primary and Secondary School Teachers and Adolescents Living With HIV in Western Kenya2296-256510.3389/fpubh.2021.757267https://doaj.org/article/11d8815399f8452eb5d22f98133922762021-11-01T00:00:00Zhttps://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpubh.2021.757267/fullhttps://doaj.org/toc/2296-2565Introduction: Understanding community members' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus and the prevalence of associated stigma are critical steps for increasing accurate public health knowledge, encouraging uptake of preventative or mitigating health behaviors, and ultimately bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control.Methods: We conducted a one-time, phone-based assessment to assess the presence of perceived COVID-19 community stigma reported by Kenyan primary and secondary school teachers, as well as adolescents living with HIV. Participants were previously enrolled in an ongoing, cluster-randomized trial to evaluate the impact of multi-media teacher training on teachers' negative attitudes and beliefs around HIV. The SAFI Stigma Questionnaire, a validated tool to assess HIV-related stigma in this setting, was adapted to ask questions regarding the stigma and discrimination experienced or perceived during the COVID-19 pandemic.Results: We enrolled 330 participants in this study, including 311 primary and secondary teachers (56% female, average age 36 years) and 19 adolescents living with HIV (57.89% female, average age 16.37 years). None of the adolescent participants reported witnessing or experiencing discrimination related to COVID-19, nor did they report losing financial and/or social support. In contrast, the teacher participants reported prominent social stigma experiences of various levels and related to COVID-19. Teachers in the intervention group, who had completed the multi-media training on HIV-related stigma, were significantly less likely to think that the community viewed COVID-19 as a dirty or shameful disease, and less likely to feel it was important to keep their COVID-19 infection a secret, compared to the teacher control group.Conclusion: These findings suggest that COVID-19-related stigma may be prevalent in western Kenya and that interventions to reduce community-level stigma for HIV may also have a protective impact on other stigmatized infectious diseases such as COVID-19.Ashley ChoryWinstone NyandikoWinstone NyandikoCelestine AshimosiJosephine AluochRoxanne MartinWhitney BiegonDennis MunyoroEdith ApondiEdith ApondiRachel VreemanRachel VreemanFrontiers Media S.A.articleCOVID-19stigmateachersHIVKenyaPublic aspects of medicineRA1-1270ENFrontiers in Public Health, Vol 9 (2021)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	COVID-19 stigma teachers HIV Kenya Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270
spellingShingle	COVID-19 stigma teachers HIV Kenya Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Ashley Chory Winstone Nyandiko Winstone Nyandiko Celestine Ashimosi Josephine Aluoch Roxanne Martin Whitney Biegon Dennis Munyoro Edith Apondi Edith Apondi Rachel Vreeman Rachel Vreeman Social Stigma Related to COVID-19 Disease Described by Primary and Secondary School Teachers and Adolescents Living With HIV in Western Kenya
description	Introduction: Understanding community members' knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus and the prevalence of associated stigma are critical steps for increasing accurate public health knowledge, encouraging uptake of preventative or mitigating health behaviors, and ultimately bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control.Methods: We conducted a one-time, phone-based assessment to assess the presence of perceived COVID-19 community stigma reported by Kenyan primary and secondary school teachers, as well as adolescents living with HIV. Participants were previously enrolled in an ongoing, cluster-randomized trial to evaluate the impact of multi-media teacher training on teachers' negative attitudes and beliefs around HIV. The SAFI Stigma Questionnaire, a validated tool to assess HIV-related stigma in this setting, was adapted to ask questions regarding the stigma and discrimination experienced or perceived during the COVID-19 pandemic.Results: We enrolled 330 participants in this study, including 311 primary and secondary teachers (56% female, average age 36 years) and 19 adolescents living with HIV (57.89% female, average age 16.37 years). None of the adolescent participants reported witnessing or experiencing discrimination related to COVID-19, nor did they report losing financial and/or social support. In contrast, the teacher participants reported prominent social stigma experiences of various levels and related to COVID-19. Teachers in the intervention group, who had completed the multi-media training on HIV-related stigma, were significantly less likely to think that the community viewed COVID-19 as a dirty or shameful disease, and less likely to feel it was important to keep their COVID-19 infection a secret, compared to the teacher control group.Conclusion: These findings suggest that COVID-19-related stigma may be prevalent in western Kenya and that interventions to reduce community-level stigma for HIV may also have a protective impact on other stigmatized infectious diseases such as COVID-19.
format	article
author	Ashley Chory Winstone Nyandiko Winstone Nyandiko Celestine Ashimosi Josephine Aluoch Roxanne Martin Whitney Biegon Dennis Munyoro Edith Apondi Edith Apondi Rachel Vreeman Rachel Vreeman
author_facet	Ashley Chory Winstone Nyandiko Winstone Nyandiko Celestine Ashimosi Josephine Aluoch Roxanne Martin Whitney Biegon Dennis Munyoro Edith Apondi Edith Apondi Rachel Vreeman Rachel Vreeman
author_sort	Ashley Chory
title	Social Stigma Related to COVID-19 Disease Described by Primary and Secondary School Teachers and Adolescents Living With HIV in Western Kenya
title_short	Social Stigma Related to COVID-19 Disease Described by Primary and Secondary School Teachers and Adolescents Living With HIV in Western Kenya
title_full	Social Stigma Related to COVID-19 Disease Described by Primary and Secondary School Teachers and Adolescents Living With HIV in Western Kenya
title_fullStr	Social Stigma Related to COVID-19 Disease Described by Primary and Secondary School Teachers and Adolescents Living With HIV in Western Kenya
title_full_unstemmed	Social Stigma Related to COVID-19 Disease Described by Primary and Secondary School Teachers and Adolescents Living With HIV in Western Kenya
title_sort	social stigma related to covid-19 disease described by primary and secondary school teachers and adolescents living with hiv in western kenya
publisher	Frontiers Media S.A.
publishDate	2021
url	https://doaj.org/article/11d8815399f8452eb5d22f9813392276
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Social Stigma Related to COVID-19 Disease Described by Primary and Secondary School Teachers and Adolescents Living With HIV in Western Kenya

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