October 14, 2022

World Skin Health Day is marked every 14 October. Recent studies show that in Singapore, 1 in 10 individuals are being treated for eczema. Unfortunately, a social stigma is attached to contracting eczema in Singapore, thus imposing additional challenges on patients combating the disease.

In ‘Media and social factors influencing stigma towards eczema patients: A survey study in Singapore’ (Health Promotion Journal of Australia, 2022), Assistant Professor Shaohai Jiang and Christopher Chia (NUS Communications and New Media) explore what influences people to stigmatise eczema patients in Singapore. To identify the relevant factors, the researchers conducted an online survey with 293 participants to understand Singaporeans’ perception of eczema.

Although providing more information about eczema in the media may help people understand that eczema can be a common skin problem, the survey results show that media exposure to eczema content does not influence people’s tendency to stigmatise eczema. The researchers postulate that this could be because in Singapore, there has not been sufficient media coverage of eczema, so knowing a little bit more about eczema through the media is not sufficient to change one’s attitude towards the disease. Alternatively, it could also be because Singaporeans are more reliant on personal experiences to understand eczema, so media coverage carries less influence over one’s perception of the disease.

However, having personal connections with eczema patients significantly reduces one’s tendency to stigmatise the patients. This could be because interacting with eczema patients has enhanced the respondents’ health literacy and understanding of the disease significantly. Having family members who have contracted the disease is also likely to correct one’s prejudice against eczema patients.

The researchers propose government interventions to promote health literacy, and such promotion campaigns can include measures that depict one’s close family member as a victim of the disease. Moreover, advocacy groups can strengthen the social support system available to eczema patients. Media organisations should also use their platform to speak out against stigma towards eczema patients more frequently.

Read the article here: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/hpja.587