Religious beliefs and HIV-related stigma: Considerations for healthcare providers

Abstract

Globally, the stigmatic behavior toward people living with HIV(PLHIV) has marginalized them. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of religious beliefs and demographic variables on healthcare providers’ stigmatic perspectives towards PLHIV. A total of 575 healthcare providers in Shiraz completed a structured questionnaire. Data were analyzed using the STATA package. The findings indicated a significant association between the stigmatic perspective of healthcare providers and their religious beliefs (p < 0.05). The multiple regression analysis showed that, after controlling effects of other variables, only religious beliefs was significantly linked with the stigmatic view (p = 0.001). In addition, social class and marital status were predictors, but they had a significant association with stigmatic view (p > 0.05).

To reduce stigma and discrimination, training healthcare providers is inevitable. Thus, a program with a focus on the rights of PLHIV should be implemented to help healthcare providers deal with PLHIV without any stigma or discrimination.

Keywords:

• religious beliefs
• stigma
• HIV patients
• healthcare providers

Acknowledgment

The researchers thank all the healthcare providers who participated in the study.

Ethics approval

This study was approved by the Ethics Committee of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences (approval number: ec-p-950159-12826). Verbal consent to participant was obtained, and the participants were asked to answer voluntarily.

Notes on contributors

N.Z. was responsible for study concept and design. N.Z. and M.D. analyzed the data. N.Z. and H.J. were responsible for administrative, technical, and material support of the study. All of the authors approved the final version of the manuscript.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the vice-chancellor for Research of Shiraz University of Medical Sciences for the financial support of this research project [No: 95-01-59-12826].