Facilitate collaboration and information exchange across Australian jurisdictions to develop the necessary health infrastructure for HCV testing and treatment in custodial settings nationally.
‘Let’s talk about hep C’
The National Prisons Hepatitis Education Program (HepPEd)
HepPEd is a publicly available, evidence-based, ‘whole-of-prison’ hepatitis C education program specifically designed for the Australian prison sector. The overall goal of HepPEd is to improve the hepatitis C-related public health literacy (knowledge, attitudes, and capabilities) of the prison sector as a whole to facilitate enhanced hepatitis C testing and treatment uptake among people in prison. The NPHN aims to support the delivery and scale-up of HepPEd in prisons across Australia
DIRECT LINKS
HepPEd includes a suite of multi-modal resources (information booklets, comic books, animated videos, infographics, posters, online modules) across separate but cohesive streams tailored to three key target audience groups in the sector - people in prison, correctional officers, and healthcare providers; a peer education ‘train the trainer’ program for people in prison and correctional officers; an implementation manual; and an inbuilt program evaluation.
On this page, you’ll find the suite of HepPEd Program resources available for download and guidance on how to implement HepPEd. To learn more about the development and evaluation of HepPEd, click here.
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HOW TO IMPLEMENT
The HepPEd Program is designed to be implemented in an individual prison over a three-month period of ‘mass education’. During this period, the goal is to expose all staff (both custodial and health) and all people in prison to the various HepPEd Program resources. The intention is for a dedicated HepPEd facilitator and peer educators/ champions to work as a team to deliver the Program to the entire prison in a comprehensive, but largely informal and opportunistic way - akin to a ‘whole-of-prison’ health promotion or advertising campaign. The goal is for the dedicated HepPEd facilitator and peer educators/champions to spend as much time as possible having conversations with as many people as possible from each target audience group, disseminate the various HepPEd resources to all, and encourage engagement with the resources.
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Detailed guidance on the optimal implementation methods which were piloted and evaluated in two large Australian prisons can be found in the Implementation Manual.
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Findings from the research evaluation can be found on the publications page.
RESOURCES
To find which resource is most suitable to you, please select from the five different tabs below.
Let’s talk about hep C: test, treat, cure, prevent – it’s simple!
Goal: to encourage all people in prison to actively engage, and encourage others to engage, with hepatitis C testing and treatment services.
Poster - “Do yourself a favour, get tested and treated for hep C.”
The poster is intended to encourage people in prison to get tested and treated for hep C.
For a print-friendly PDF download, click here.
Booklet - “Let’s talk about hep C”
A comprehensive hep C information booklet covering essential topics: transmission, prevention, diagnosis, testing, treatment, re-infection, and retreatment.
For a print-friendly PDF download, click here.
Comic -“Treat & repeat, it’s simple”
The comic aims to encourage people in prison to talk about and promote proactive engagement with prevention, testing, and treatment in prison with their mates.
For a print-friendly PDF download, click here.
Comic -“Talk to your mate, it’s simple”
This comic addresses the importance of non-judgmental access to treatment and retreatment to overcome feelings of stigma and shame.
For a print-friendly PDF download, click here.
To learn more about the People in Prison Program, such as learning objectives, key topics, and delivery methods/engagement strategies, as well as the characters and storylines, see the Implementation Manual.
CONTACT
For further queries about the HepPEd Program, please contact:
Yumi Sheehan