Summary Background and Objectives People with skin disease often experience stigmatization in health and body care settings, significantly impacting their quality of life. This parallel‐group randomized controlled trial evaluated a face‐to‐face group seminar aimed at reducing stigma towards people with skin disease among health and body care professionals (HBCPs). Patients and Methods Cosmetologists, hairdressers, nurses, and physical therapists were randomized into an intervention (IG; n = 64) or control group (CG; n = 65). The IG received a seminar consisting of self‐awareness exercises, education and a patient encounter; the CG followed a seminar on “health at work”. Stereotype agreement, disease‐related misconceptions, desire for social distance, and behavioral intentions were assessed at baseline (t0), post‐intervention (t1), and 3 months follow‐up (t2). Results The intervention group showed significant reductions over time in disease‐related misconceptions (t0–t1: 0.398, p < 0.001; t0–t2: 0.225, p < 0.001; ηp 2 = 0.12) and in stereotype endorsement (t0–t1: 0.392, p < 0.001; t0–t2: 0.299, p = 0.002; ηp 2 = 0.12). In both groups, the desire for social distance decreased immediately after the seminar (t0–t1 Intervention : 0.186, p < 0.001; t0–t1 Control : 0.135, p = 0.012) but returned to baseline at follow‐up (t0–t2 Intervention : 0.097, p = 0.35; t0–t2 Control : 0.016, p = 1.00). Conclusions The seminar improved skin disease‐related stigmatizing beliefs and attitudes of HBCPs. Its integration into vocational training curricula or delivery in workshops to increase knowledge about skin diseases and to reduce prejudices in various professional groups is promising.
Traxler et al. (Fri,) studied this question.