COVID-19 AND STIGMATISATION OF HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS

Tahir Belice, Dilan Çiftçi, Ismail Demir, Arif Yüksel

The aim: this study presents a Coronavirus Stigma Scale for Healthcare Providers that indicates the social stigmatisation rate and severity toward healthcare providers to a certain extent. This paper aims at raising awareness on the stigmatisation of healthcare providers who sacrifice their own lives for patients diagnosed or are at risk of being infected with COVID-19.

Methods: the study uses a 12-item 5-point Likert-type Coronavirus Stigma Scale for Healthcare Providers, which was constructed based on the previously shortened and modified HIV Stigma Scale. The scale was distributed online to healthcare providers, and all the results obtained were then saved to an Excel file. Correlations were determined by using ANOVA and the independent t-test. Percentages, averages, figures and rates were calculated with SPSS.

Results: the population of the study comprised 136 participants in total; 40 male and 96 female. Reliability and validity studies were conducted using Cronbach’s alpha and factor analysis. The stigmatisation rate toward healthcare providers was found to be significantly high, and the stigmatisation level was found to increase significantly with increasing age (p<0.05).

Conclusions: the mistreatment of stigmatised healthcare providers during a pandemic where the need for them is elevated results in adverse outcomes; therefore, anti-stigma programmes need to be developed. It would be wise to find solutions such as acknowledging the stigma and introducing anti-stigma programmes.