Disclosure of Disease among Women affected by Leprosy: A Qualitative Study
Purpose: Although leprosy is completely curable with multidrug therapy, it
is unfortunate that the stigma attached to leprosy persists even today. Fear of
social exclusion prevents disclosure of the disease to the family and community.
This study aimed to evaluate the extent of disclosure of disease among women
affected by leprosy in a tertiary referral hospital in Chhattisgarh State, India.
Method: A qualitative study was conducted with 57 women affected by leprosy
who reported at a tertiary referral hospital in Champa, Chhattisgarh State. The
respondents were 18 years of age or older, and had completed multidrug therapy
for leprosy. They were asked whether the disclosure of disease had affected their
interactions with family, neighbours and community members.
Results: Of the 57 women, 48 (84%) had disclosed their disease to their family,
17 (30%) to their neighbours and 13 (23%) to the community members. Thirty
women (53%) reported that they experienced problems after revealing the
ailment to their family, friends and neighbours. The qualitative analysis found
that negative behaviour towards people affected by leprosy still persists in the
community. Consequently, women affected by leprosy try to hide their disease
due to fear of negative community reactions.
Conclusion: This study emphasises the need to spread awareness about the
disease and its transmission, by educating the people affected by leprosy, their
families and the community. This should be a continuous process in order to
reduce or remove the stigma and discrimination against women affected by
leprosy, in particular.
Keywords
Authors
How to Cite
Download Citation
License
Copyright © 2020 The Author(s)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Authors retain copyright and grant the journal right of first publication with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License By-NC-ND 4.0 that allows others to share the work with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g., post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g., in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access ).
Similar Articles
- Gert VanRooy, Elina Amadhila, Hasheem Mannan, Joanne McVeigh, Malcolm MacLachlan, Mutamad Amin, Core Concepts of Human Rights and Inclusion of Vulnerable Groups in the Namibian Policy on Orthopaedic Technical Services , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 23 No. 3 (2012): Autumn
- Frank Twum, Joslin Alexander Dogbe, Anthony Kwaku Edusei, Joseph Ampratwum, Participation Restriction due to Arm and Leg Motor Impairment after Stroke Rehabilitation in the Tamale Metropolitan Area, Ghana , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 28 No. 4 (2017): Winter 2017
- Ritu Ghosh, Vennila Palanivelu, Emma Tebbutt, Sunil Deepak, Training of Mid-Level Rehabilitation Workers for Community-Based Rehabilitation Programmes , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 31 No. 4 (2020): Winter
- Zhang Jinming, Zhang Yuge, Liu Genlin, Gao Yuchen, Chen Suwen, Survey of Reproduction Needs and Services: Situation of Persons with Spinal Cord Injuries , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 25 No. 2 (2014): Summer 2014
- Huib Cornielje, The Land of Unequal Opportunities , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 32 No. 1 (2021): Spring
- Huib Cornielje, Editorial , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 31 No. 2 (2020): Summer 2020
- Huib Cornielje, Speak Less but Act More , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 32 No. 2 (2021): Summer
- Amina Mohamed, Manpreet Kaur Virdi, Janeki Roux, Danny Liu, Matthew Hunt, Sidhiprada Mohapatra, Community-Based Rehabilitation in Settings of Armed Conflict, Natural Disaster, or Mass Displacement: A Scoping Review , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 33 No. 4 (2022): Winter
- Huib Cornielje, About Generals and Too Few Soldiersā¦ , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 33 No. 4 (2022): Winter
- Huib Cornielje, What do COVID-19, Conflict and Climate Change have in common? , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 33 No. 1: (Spring) - 2022
You may also start an advanced similarity search for this article.
Most read articles by the same author(s)
- Pitchaimani Govindharaj, Sampathkumar Srinivasan, Joydeepa Darlong, Activity Limitation of People Affected by Leprosy in an Endemic District in West Bengal, India , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 31 No. 3 (2020): Autumn
- Senthilkumar Ramasamy, Pitchaimani Govindharaj, Archana Kumar, Karthikeyan Govindasamy, Annamma S John, Changes in Social Participation of Persons Affected by Leprosy, Before and After Multidrug Therapy, in an Endemic State in Eastern India , Disability, CBR & Inclusive Development: Vol. 30 No. 2 (2019): Summer 2019