National Prisons Hepatitis Education Project
The NPHN has identified development and deployment of educational resources as a top strategic priority. In particular, ‘prison-focused’ HCV education programs were recommended to raise awareness, and change attitudes and behaviours amongst prisoners, correctional staff, and healthcare providers in the sector.
The National Prisons Hepatitis Education Project (The Education Project) is an NPHN initiative led by the Kirby Institute in partnership with the Australasian Society for HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Sexual Health Medicine (ASHM) and Eliminate C Australia (EC Australia).
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The project is being conducted in 3 phases:
Phase 1: Needs assessment and scoping exercise to identify the areas of needs for HCV education for each target audience group through: extending the understanding of the prisons and target audience groups in each state and territory; identifying knowledge, attitudes and capabilities of the target audiences in relation to HCV in the prisons; identify and catalogue existing education programs; and inform site selection.
Phase 2: Education resource development tailored to each target audience group. The resources may include workshops and online modules for health care providers and correctional officers, and peer-to-peer materials and a general education video for prisoners. The implementation plan and participating venues will be resolved during this phase.
Phase 3: Education program implementation and evaluation of tailored education programs for each target audience group in selected correctional centres nationally. Once developed and evaluated the resources will then be available for wider distribution.
The education program through a randomized research design in 12 of the selected correctional centres nationally. The evaluation aims to assess the impact of the education on: i) the number of prisoners engaging with HCV treatment; ii) the HCV health literacy of the target audience groups; iii) and the cost-effectiveness of the scale-up of HCV treatment in the prisons. Phase 4 will run concurrently with Phase 3.
Contact
Yumi Sheehan (project coordinator): NPHN.coordinator@unsw.edu.au or 02 9385 0375
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