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“I Genuinely Believe This Is the Most Stigmatised Group within the Social Care Sector.” Health and Social Care Professionals Experiences of Dealing with People with Alcohol Related Brain Damage: A Qualitative Interview Study
Kruithof, P.J.; McGovern, W.; Haighton, C. “I Genuinely Believe This Is the Most Stigmatised Group within the Social Care Sector”—Health and Social Care Professionals’ Experiences of Working with People with Alcohol-Related Brain Damage: A Qualitative Interview Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2024, 21, 10.
Kruithof, P.J.; McGovern, W.; Haighton, C. “I Genuinely Believe This Is the Most Stigmatised Group within the Social Care Sector”—Health and Social Care Professionals’ Experiences of Working with People with Alcohol-Related Brain Damage: A Qualitative Interview Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 10.
Kruithof, P.J.; McGovern, W.; Haighton, C. “I Genuinely Believe This Is the Most Stigmatised Group within the Social Care Sector”—Health and Social Care Professionals’ Experiences of Working with People with Alcohol-Related Brain Damage: A Qualitative Interview Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health2024, 21, 10.
Kruithof, P.J.; McGovern, W.; Haighton, C. “I Genuinely Believe This Is the Most Stigmatised Group within the Social Care Sector”—Health and Social Care Professionals’ Experiences of Working with People with Alcohol-Related Brain Damage: A Qualitative Interview Study. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2024, 21, 10.
Abstract
Appropriate diagnosis, treatment and care contributes to better service engagement, improvements to wellbeing, cost savings, reductions in morbidity and mortality for people with Alcohol Related Brain Damage. In the North-East of England large amounts of alcohol are consumed, reflected in the number of alcohol-related deaths in the region. However, the pathway for people with Alcohol Related Brain Damage to receipt of diagnosis, treatment and care is unknown and could be unwittingly influenced by stigma. Qualitative in-depth semi-structured interviews were completed with 25 health and social care professionals from organisations involved with people with Alcohol Related Brain Damage recruited via snowball-sampling. Interviews were recorded, transcribed verbatim, coded, and analysed. People with Alcohol Related Brain Damage were stigmatised both by society and professionals which inhibited entry into services therefore Alcohol Related Brain Damage remained underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed. There was no dedicated service but silos with revolving doors and underfunded generic care with long waiting lists typically excluding those with alcohol or neurological problems. Professionals need to be challenged on the assumption that Alcohol Related Brain Damage is self-inflicted via training aimed at challenging unconscious bias. Reducing stigmatising processes associated with Alcohol Related Brain Damage could counteract professionals’ reluctance to provide care.
Keywords
Stigma; alcohol related brain damage; qualitative research; health and social care professionals
Subject
Public Health and Healthcare, Public Health and Health Services
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
