01659nas a2200205   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002000055653004200075653001100117653001400128100001600142700001900158245009200177300001100269490000700280050001900287520113300306022001401439       2006                            d  c2006 Aug10aChronic Disease10aHealth Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice10aHumans10aPrejudice1 aHeijnders M1 aVan Der Meij S00aThe fight against stigma: an overview of stigma-reduction strategies and interventions.  a353-630 v11  aHEIJNDERS 20063 a<p>In many health conditions, people are severely affected by health-related stigma and discrimination. A literature review was conducted to identify stigma-reduction strategies and interventions in the field of HIV/AIDS, mental illness, leprosy, TB and epilepsy. The review identified several levels at which interventions and strategies are being implemented. These are the intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational/institutional, community and governmental/structural level. Although a lot of work has been carried out on stigma and stigma reduction, far less work has been done on assessing the effectiveness of stigma-reduction strategies. The effective strategies identified mainly concentrated on the individual and the community level. In order to reduce health-related stigma and discrimination significantly, single-level and single-target group approaches are not enough. What is required is a patient-centred approach, which starts with interventions targeting the intrapersonal level, to empower affected persons to assist in the development and implementation of stigma-reduction programmes at other levels.</p>  a1354-8506