Social Stigma of Patients Suffering from COVID-19: Challenges for Health Care System

Abstract

The meaning of the term social stigma has changed over the years. The history of this concept dates back to ancient times. Currently, social stigma is defined as the attitude of discrimination, disapproval, or negative perception of a given group due to the properties and features it represents. Stigmatization concerns the physical and mental spheres of an individual. The burden of stigma affects many people. Moreover, it is present in medicine, affects people with COVID-19 and presents a challenge for the health care system. Social stigma of individuals with COVID-19 is a worldwide problem and can be compounded by including race, profession, social status, religious identity, and vaccination status. Stigmatization may lead to negative consequences, including discrimination and social rejection of stigmatized individuals. In addition, it affects the close relatives of stigmatized individuals. The main goal of this review paper is to present the problem of stigma among patients suffering from COVID-19 and to list major challenges for the health care system in solving this problem. We undertook a review of literature published in PubMed systems, Scopus and Google Scholar. The results indicate that the stigmatization bears many negative consequences including limited access to health care, potential impact on health status of patients and worse outcomes. Early identification of the problem may help to implement appropriate strategies to combat the stigma.