Understanding leprosy reactions and the impact on the lives of people affected: An exploration in two leprosy endemic countries.

Background: Leprosy reactions, Type-1 and erythema nodosum leprosum, are immune-mediated complications of leprosy, which play a significant role in the morbidity associated with the disease. A considerable amount of literature has been published on the impact of leprosy in general but few studies focus specifically on leprosy reactions. This study aimed to investigate the impact of leprosy reactions on physical, psychological, and social aspects of the lives of people affected by analysing their life experiences and perspectives about leprosy reactions.

How do Positive Deviants Overcome Health-Related Stigma? An Exploration of Development of Positive Deviance Among People With Stigmatized Health Conditions in Indonesia.

A constructivist grounded theory approach was used to understand how some people living with stigmatized health conditions develop positive deviance to overcome stigma. We examined interviews from 13 identified positive deviants living with four different stigmatized health conditions (HIV, leprosy, schizophrenia, and diabetes) in Indonesia. Positive deviance develops in the form of psychological empowerment through improvement of self-belief and perception (intrapersonal component), development of understanding and skill to exert control in life (interactional component), and self-discovery of successful behaviors and strategies to avert stigma (behavioral component).

Non-Communicable Diseases-Related Stigma: A Mixed-Methods Systematic Review.

This systematic review examines and consolidates existing evidence on stigma associated with the top four non-communicable diseases (NCDs)-cancers, cardiovascular diseases, chronic respiratory diseases, and diabetes-and its impact on the lives of people affected. We conducted a systematic literature search in PubMed, PsycINFO, JSTOR, Science Direct, and Web of Science for original research in English that explored health-related stigma among people living with either of the four NCDs. A three-step integrative synthesis of data was conducted.