Recommendations for Future Research
Although the call by the U.S. Surgeon General
and the New Freedom Commission on Mental
Health to reduce stigma has spurred interest in
stigma research and prompted new initiatives
across the United States, stigma reduction is still
in its infancy. Empirical studies that evaluate
national stigma programs are nearly absent in the
literature and interventions studies are few. There-
fore, it is difficult to determine which stigma
programs/interventions are effective and how these
programs/interventions work to reduce stigma.
Programs/interventions (including those for
stigma) should be based upon a theoretical frame-
work, informed by pilot work, and targeted to the
population of interest (Sidani & Bradden, 1998).
When a theoretical framework, pilot work, and the
population of interest are considered in the
program/intervention design, researchers can eval-
uate program outcomes most completely; programs
can be evaluated to (a) determine overall program
performance, (b) determine if and how the theoryaccounts or does not account for the observed
outcomes, and (c) determine what may have gone
wrong and how to best refine and strengthen the
program (Beadnell, 2007). The authors are unaware
of any national stigma-reduction programs guided
by a theoretical framework. Use of theory to
develop stigma-reduction programs is critical for
effective stigma reduction.