Intervening in HIV/AIDS-Related Stigma and Discrimination as Structural Processes: Going Beyond Conventional Approaches to Health Communication

• In Event: ICA Interactive paper/Poster Session I
  In Interactive Paper Session: Health Communication Interactive Poster Session

Abstract

The complex nature of stigma, particularly as it relates to HIV/AIDS, makes it difficult to understand and respond to. Much of this difficulty arises from a constrained understanding of this concept based on a socio-cognitive framework, which emphasizes human cognition as a source of stigma, rather than a structural framework that accounts for the interplay of different social, economic, political and historical processes that intersect to produce stigma and discrimination in society. Drawing on critical theoretical framework and ethnographic research related to HIV/AIDS in Delhi, India, this paper argues for a structure-centred approach to health interventions and communication that are based on the lived experiences and narratives of affected and marginalized communities (including those living with HIV) in a bid to eliminate the burden of HIV/AIDS related stigma and discrimination.

Authors

• Shamshad Khan, University of Texas at San Antonio

• Angie Galal, Texas A&M U