ICPO presented to the DCU nursing students with Dr Tracey Harrington in November 2020.
This was held online and 5 members of ICPO shared their experiences of stigma. They gave examples of implicit and explicit bias and most importantly self-internalised stigma. These experiences ranged from that in the workplace, with family, in public and in the healthcare setting. Most notably were the results of the poll questions held asked to those attending. Students were asked if they believed obesity was a disease at the beginning of the session, and at 64% this was higher than expected. After the presentation when asked the same question, this percentage had raised to 86%.
This inspires us as advocates that sharing our experiences directly raises awareness of our lives with obesity and the harmful affects of weight stigma.
