Jay, Sarah and Winterburn, Michael and Choudhary, Ramesh and Jha, Kiran and Sah, Arbind Kumar and O'Connell, Brenda H and O'Donnell, Aisling T and Moynihan, Andrew B and Muldoon, Orla T (2021) From social curse to social cure: A self‐help group community intervention for people affected by leprosy in Nepal. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 31 (3). pp. 276-287. ISSN 1052-9284

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Abstract

Leprosy is endemic in Nepal and disproportionately affects the most marginalized. Leprosy related stigma can be characterized as a social curse, because those affected are excluded from group life and social participation which has severe implications for psychological health. The Nepal Leprosy Trust run a community-based self-help group intervention that aims to develop a new empowered identity to re-establish access to multiple group memberships' through social participation. In this applied cross-sectional study, informed by the Social Identity Model of Identity Change, we assess this intervention. Participants (N = 98) were members of self-help groups in 10 rural villages in Nepal, and completed measures of self-help group identification, access to multiple groups, internalized stigma and wellbeing. Mediation models indicated that self-help group identification was indirectly linked to reduced stigma and increased well-being through access to multiple groups. Supporting the Social Identity Model of Identity Change, we present novel evidence that group-based interventions can offer new valued identities that link to social cure resources, even in the most adverse circumstances. Please refer to the Supplementary Material section to find this article's Community and Social Impact Statement

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	Cite as: Jay, S, Winterburn, M, Choudhary, R, et al. From social curse to social cure: A self-help group community intervention for people affected by leprosy in Nepal. J Community Appl Soc Psychol. 2021; 31: 276– 287. https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2510
Keywords:	identity resources; multiple groups; self-help groups; social cure; social curse;
Academic Unit:	Assisting Living & Learning,ALL institute Faculty of Science and Engineering > Psychology
Item ID:	16787
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1002/casp.2510
Depositing User:	Brenda O'Connell
Date Deposited:	20 Dec 2022 09:54
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology
Publisher:	Wiley online Publishers
Refereed:	Yes
URI:	Publisher
Use Licence:	This item is available under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial Share Alike Licence (CC BY-NC-SA). Details of this licence are available here

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