01938nas a2200253   4500000000100000008004100001260001000042653003600052653002200088100001000110700001700120700001600137700001000153700001600163700001700179700001600196700001500212700001400227245012100241856006300362300000900425520122500434022002501659       2021                            d  bWiley10aSociology and Political Science10aSocial psychology1 aJay S1 aWinterburn M1 aChoudhary R1 aJha K1 aKumar Sah A1 aO'Connell BH1 aO'Donnell A1 aMoynihan A1 aMuldoon O00aFrom social curse to social cure: A self‐help group community intervention for people affected by leprosy in Nepal  uhttps://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1002/casp.2510  a1-123 aLeprosy is endemic in Nepal and disproportionately affects the most marginalized. Leprosy related stigma can be characterized as a social curse, because those affected are excluded from group life and social participation which has severe implications for psychological health. The Nepal Leprosy Trust run a community‐based self‐help group intervention that aims to develop a new empowered identity to re‐establish access to multiple group memberships' through social participation. In this applied cross‐sectional study, informed by the Social Identity Model of Identity Change, we assess this intervention. Participants (N = 98) were members of self‐help groups in 10 rural villages in Nepal, and completed measures of self‐help group identification, access to multiple groups, internalized stigma and well‐being. Mediation models indicated that self‐help group identification was indirectly linked to reduced stigma and increased well‐being through access to multiple groups. Supporting the Social Identity Model of Identity Change, we present novel evidence that group‐based interventions can offer new valued identities that link to social cure resources, even in the most adverse circumstances.  a1052-9284, 1099-1298