One year on: what we’ve learned about tackling stigma in healthcare
Over the past year, we've spoken to researchers, clinicians, advocates and people with lived experience working across abortion care, mental health, alcohol and other drugs, HIV, hepatitis C, disability, obesity and many other areas of healthcare.
When the Tackling Stigma in Healthcare network launched, its ambition was simple: to bring those conversations together.
As Scientia Professor Carla Treloar, the founder, explains:
"There are so many conditions, identities and practices that are stigmatised, and we work in these silos. The thought was, can we bring them all together, build off each other, power in numbers, do something bigger than we're doing individually?"
One year later, the network has reached more than 10,000 website visitors from over 80 countries, published 28 original articles, profiled 11 Tackling Stigma Champions, built a library of 45 practical resources and grown a community of over 1,000 subscribers committed to reducing stigma in healthcare.
Looking back over the network's first year, founder Scientia Professor Carla Treloar and Communications Lead Brooke Nolan reflect on what a year of conversations has revealed about tackling stigma in healthcare.
1. We have more in common than we think
Abortion care. Mental health. Alcohol and other drugs. Blood-borne viruses. Disability. Obesity.
On the surface, these are very different areas of healthcare, each with its own challenges, communities and priorities. Yet one of the strongest themes to emerge over the past year was how often these conversations returned to the same underlying issues: dignity, respect, fear, judgement and equitable care.
"What surprised me is the similarities across all these different areas," Carla says. "Being able to bring those similarities together, use the same language, understand that at the base of it there are really similar root causes to stigma across all these different areas, and we all want our people to be treated with respect, to uphold their dignity, and to have good outcomes at the end of the day."
2. Small changes can make a big difference
Many conversations over the past year challenged the idea that tackling stigma always requires sweeping organisational reform.
While structural change remains essential, many of the most powerful examples shared by our Champions were surprisingly practical: redesigning an intake form so transgender people could identify themselves accurately, creating patient personas to guide service design, or changing the language used in everyday interactions. Individually, these actions may seem modest. Together, they demonstrate how a series of small improvements can gradually transform people's experiences of care.
"One thing that genuinely surprised me was how often our Champions described tackling stigma through cumulative, practical changes," says Brooke. "None of these actions solved stigma on their own, but together they changed the experience of care. It reminded me that meaningful change doesn't always start with changing a whole system. Sometimes it starts with changing one interaction, one form or one decision."
3. People want practical ideas
One of the clearest messages from the past year wasn't found in the interviews themselves, but in how people engaged with them. Articles highlighting practical examples, case studies and tools consistently generated some of our strongest engagement across LinkedIn and our monthly newsletter.
Carla believes that reflects a growing appetite to move beyond recognising stigma and towards reducing it.
"It seems like there's a real appetite for people wanting to take action,” says Carla. “We talk about stigma all the time, but turning that awareness into action in health services and community settings can be really challenging. We don't have all the answers, so hearing what other people are doing, what's been trialled elsewhere, what's worked and what others have adapted is incredibly valuable."
4. People are willing to look inwards
Talking about stigma isn't always easy. Few people come to work intending to make others feel judged or excluded, so reflecting on how our own attitudes, behaviours or systems might contribute can feel uncomfortable. Yet one of the most encouraging observations from the network's first year was how willing people were to engage with those conversations. Some of our strongest-performing content explored topics such as implicit bias, cognitive snares and whether storytelling can unintentionally reinforce stigma—subjects that ask people to reflect on their own practice.
"One thing that has genuinely surprised me over the past year is people's willingness to look inwards,” says Brooke. “A few of our Champions told us that conversations about stigma can sometimes make people feel defensive but we've seen the opposite. People aren't resisting these conversations—they're seeking them out, provided they're practical, evidence-based and invite reflection rather than blame."
5. People with lived experience are the most important voice
The most powerful conversations over the past year were with people with lived experience. Many continue to face stigma and judgement in their everyday lives, sometimes from multiple directions, including within the healthcare system itself. Yet they continue to share their experiences and expertise because they want healthcare to be better for the people who come after them.
"One of the greatest privileges of this project has been being trusted with people's stories," says Brooke. "Again and again, I've met people who continue to face stigma and judgement, yet work tirelessly to improve healthcare so others don't have to go through what they did—or what they're still going through. Those conversations have reinforced that lived experience isn't just something we listen to. It's expertise. If we're serious about tackling stigma, that expertise needs to be recognised, valued, appropriately remunerated and embedded throughout research, service design, interventions and evaluation."
6. Healthcare is where change is possible
Stigma exists across society, and it isn't going to disappear overnight. Rather than trying to solve every form of prejudice, healthcare could be the one place where meaningful progress is possible. Healthcare already has systems designed to improve quality, equity and patient outcomes. The challenge is making stigma part of those conversations and using the levers already available to create better experiences of care.
"We can't perhaps change the whole of society, but healthcare is supposed to be an environment that promotes equitable outcomes,” says Carla. “It has regulation and accreditation processes that give us those levers to say, 'It's just not good enough, and we have to keep trying.' We should be able to use those levers to make sure everyone is looked after in ways that reflect equity, dignity and respect."
7. Stigma is a healthcare quality issue.
Throughout the year, one idea kept gaining momentum: stigma isn't simply about attitudes or individual behaviour. It affects whether people access care, trust health services and achieve good outcomes. That means stigma should no longer be treated as a "soft" issue. It should be recognised, measured and managed as a core component of healthcare quality.
"It can't just be this soft thing that those social science people are interested in. It's a key driver of healthcare quality,” says Carla. “We want our institutions to know it, to measure it, and to be accountable so that we know they're doing their very best to provide equitable, non-judgemental, stigma-free care for everybody."
8. The next step is accountability.
Many of the conversations over the past year focused on changing individual attitudes and behaviours. But lasting change won't come from awareness alone. It requires stigma to be recognised, measured and embedded within the systems that shape healthcare, from accreditation and governance through to funding and quality improvement.
"I'd really like stigma to be embedded in the rules that govern healthcare,” says Carla. “I want stigma embedded in the structures that matter – the things that get measured, the things that determine funding and accreditation. We need to give stigma teeth in terms of accountability."