Rizal Faisal
A group of third-year medical students from Pengiran Anak Puteri Rashidah Sa’adatul Bolkiah (PAPRSB) Institute of Health Sciences (IHS), Universiti Brunei Darussalam (UBD) formed a public outreach project focussed on ‘COVID-19: Social Stigma and Quarantine Self-care’.
The project, aptly named ‘Minds and Voices’, aims to raise awareness on social stigma against recovered COVID-19 patients and mental health problems among quarantined individuals during the pandemic.
Minds and Voices consists of Muhamad Aiman bin Muhamad Sophian, Yeo Siew Wan, Ummi Hani Nabliah binti Haji Noruddin and Nur Izz Sophia binti Abdul Aziz.
Speaking to the Bulletin about the project, Ummi Hani Nabilah shared what they highlighted to the public.
“Normalising people seeking help for their mental health and awareness is key in combatting stigma in society,” she said. “So go out there, get educated and continue to be kind to everyone around you. We never know what battle they are going through.”
Minds and Voices stated that in the context of health, social stigma is the negative association between a person or group of people who share certain characteristics and a specific disease. “In an outbreak, this may mean people are labelled, stereotyped, discriminated against, treated separately, and/or experience a lot of stress because of the perceived link with a disease,” said Ummi.
She noted that the people affected by this are those with the disease, caregivers of infected patients, family and friends of infected patients, people who do not have the disease but share other characteristics with those mentioned.
“The outbreak of COVID-19 provoked social stigma and discriminatory behaviours against people of certain ethnic backgrounds as well as anyone perceived to have been in contact with the virus.”
Minds and Voices explained that the levels of stigma associated with COVID-19 are based on three main factors: it is a new disease, hence there are many unknowns; people fear the unknown; and it is easy to associate that fear with ‘others’.
The impacts of social stigma are: it can undermine social cohesion and prompt possible social isolation groups; SARS-CoV-2 becomes more likely to spread; more severe health problems; difficulties in controlling COVID-19 outbreak; drive people to hide their illness to avoid discrimination; prevent people from seeking healthcare immediately; and discourage them from adopting healthy behaviours.
Ummi Hani Nabilah suggested one way to address and avoid social stigma – be careful when talking about COVID-19. Certain words – such as ‘suspect case’ and ‘isolation’ – and language may provoke stigmatising attitudes.
“It is recommended to use a ‘people-first’ language that respects and empowers people in all communication channels, including the media,” she said.
In terms of who can play an important role in this, she said, “Government, citizens, media, key influencers and communities. Spread the facts, engage social influencers, amplify the voices, make sure to portray different ethnic groups and ethical journalism are some of the ways in addressing the issues.”
Minds and Voices shared some important tips. “Correct misconceptions, at the same time acknowledge that people’s feelings and subsequent behaviour are real, even if the underlying assumption is false. Promote the importance of preventive lifesaving actions such as early screening and treatment. Share sympathetic stories that humanise the experiences and struggles of individuals affected by COVID-19. Support and encourage those who are on the frontlines of response to the COVID-19 outbreak.”
In caring for mental health during quarantine, the medical students recommended that people fill it with exercises, reading and entertainment.
Some suggestions include keeping in touch with other family members and friends, thinking about how you coped with difficult situations in the past and reassure yourself that you will cope with the quarantine too.
“Exercise regularly, treat self-isolation as an opportunity to do some of those things you never usually have time for.”
The group also recommended fighting separation, isolation, boredom and sense of uncertainty which could result from quarantine.
Minds and Voices has also conducting events to reach out further and broaden public perspective.
On September 13, they held an event at Bandarku Ceria at Taman Haji Sir Muda Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien where they distributed leaflets to the public that featured information regarding social stigma against recovered COVID-19 patients, effects of quarantine on mental health, and ways to take care of one’s mental health during quarantine.
The event was conducted in collaboration with Shield Our Seniors, another community project fronted by third year medical students of PAPRSB IHS, UBD.
They also held a webinar on September 26 at Lecture Theatre 1 of PAPRSB IHS Extension Building which was broadcasted online via Zoom covering topics such as ‘Quarantine Experience’, ‘Social Stigma’ and ‘Quarantine Self-care’, delivered by Health Promotion Centre Officer Dr Siti Nur Hasanah binti Haji Hasnan and a law student from University of Bristol Vanessa Ang.
Minds and Voices created an awareness video which was distributed among PAPRSB IHS, UBD students, with the aim of spreading awareness on the existing social stigma against people who have had COVID-19.
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