被貼標籤、刻板印象、社會隔離、地位的喪失以及遭受歧視的過程皆是烙印的元素及所包含的議
題。深受烙印之苦的族群眾多，包括心理疾患者、同性戀者、愛滋病患、身心障礙者、特殊種族與肥胖者等，只要相對於主流族群有偏差的狀況或有危害到主流族群的道德規範，都有可能面對此議題。就健康照護而言，烙印對公共衛生的衝擊是造成服務輸送以及疾病防治的困難；在個人心理健康上則造成相關族群心理問題嚴重使他們更加不易回歸社區。本文將就烙印相關理論進行回顧整理包括烙印的理論演進、烙印研究的思考框架以及烙印形成的假說等。期望透過本文回顧讓健康照護相關領域的工作者與學生增加了解此議題的深度外，並在相關族群的服務過程中，提供更為適切的互動。

The elements of stigma includes labeling, stereotyping, separation,status loss and discrimination. As long as these elements are mentioned, they are attributed to the issues of stigma. The people with mental illness,
homosexuality, AIDS, disabilities, different ethnicity and obesity are suffered from stigma. Stigma is not only a public health issue but also affects the mental health of the stigmatized. Therefore, the importance of stigma issue in allied health should be emphasized. The focus of this article is to provide the review of theories of stigma, the research frameworks of stigma, and the assumptions of the stigmatization. We hope that health care workers and students can understand the issue of stigma deeply and support the stigmatized humanly.