The challenge

Reducing stigma is vitally important for a range of reasons including improved health, social, and economic outcomes. Despite significant policy focus, little progress has been made in achieving reduction of stigma. We cannot afford to do more of the same. Novel approaches are needed that are scalable for implementation across health care settings. Sustainable systemic change requires tackling stigmatising conditions, policies, and practices across the health system and across all areas of stigma.

The project

This project aims to tackle stigmatising conditions, policies, and practices across the health system through the development and trial of a world-first approach to stigma reduction that provides a scalable and sustainable framework for health systems. This project is based on unifying the logic of a universal precautions approach to stigma reduction.

The method

Multiple methods are being used through several streams of work, including:

  • Qualitative, exploratory discovery work in which we explore the concept of a ‘universal precautions’ approach to stigma with key stakeholders
  • Co-design processes with community, health workers, and policy makers to shape the design of stigma reduction interventions that meet the needs of consumers (i.e., program impact) and service providers (i.e., program acceptability and uptake) and policy makers
  • Implementation, trial, and evaluation of stigma reduction interventions in specific healthcare settings
  • Development of scale up plans and implementation toolkits, and rapid assessment of toolkit quality
  • Workforce development in stigma reduction and research literacy.

The impact

The project’s approach will align and leverage health system precepts of equity, access, and quality to produce a scalable stigma reduction implementation and training package for managers and policy-makers to apply to diverse health settings.

The results

The project will produce a number of papers and we will share them as we go.

Project staff

Project contact

Professor Kate Seear and Professor Carla Treloar lead this project. 

Project supporters

The project is a collaboration with the Drugs, Gender, and Sexuality Research Program and funded by the Commonwealth Department of Health.