Facilitate collaboration and information exchange across Australian jurisdictions to develop the necessary health infrastructure for HCV testing and treatment in custodial settings nationally.
The development, delivery, and evaluation of the National Prisons Hepatitis Education Program (HepPEd)
Establishing a prison-focused hepatitis C education program for the prison sector has been a key strategic priority for the NPHN since 2017. This goal was successfully achieved with the development, delivery, and evaluation of the HepPEd program, which is now being disseminated to all Australian prisons.
DIRECT LINKS
OVERVIEW
Despite considerable efforts to scale-up hepatitis C in Australian prisons, testing and treatment uptake among people in prison remains sub-optimal. Gaps in hepatitis C health literacy (knowledge, attitudes, and capabilities) among all key populations in the prison sector – people in prison, correctional officers, and healthcare providers – have been identified as major barriers to enhanced testing and treatment uptake. Most notably, these barriers include a lack of awareness about hepatitis C and the availability of simple, curative treatments, stigma and discrimination towards people living with hepatitis C and people who inject drugs, and competing health and correctional service priorities hindering engagement with prison-based hepatitis services. Yet, there are few education programs available that are specifically tailored to address these challenges in prisons.
​
In response, the National Prisons Hepatitis Education Project sought to develop, implement, and evaluate a prison-focused hepatitis C education program (HepPEd) for the Australian prison sector. Co-designed with national steering committees, HepPEd was developed with a goal to enhance hepatitis C testing and treatment uptake among people in prison by improving the public health literacy of the prison sector.
​
Between 2018 and 2024, the project involved:
1) a national needs assessment and scoping exercise;
2) resource co-design and development via a national steering committee process;
3) a comprehensive research evaluation to assess HepPEd's effectiveness in increasing hepatitis C testing and treatment rates, improving health literacy among target audience groups, and performing an economic evaluation and modelling to determine the cost-effectiveness and potential long-term impact of the program.
ABOUT HepPEd
The National Prisons Hepatitis Education Program (HepPEd) is an evidence-based ‘whole-of-prison’ hepatitis C education program tailored to people in prison, correctional officers, and healthcare providers working in the prisons. HepPEd includes:
-
a suite of multi-modal resources: information booklets, comic books, posters, infographics, videos, online modules, branded merchandise;
-
a peer education ‘train-the-trainer’ program for people in prison and correctional officers;
-
an implementation manual; and
-
a program evaluation.
HepPEd is designed to be delivered through a mass education approach, aiming to reach and engage the entire prison population, including all people in prison, correctional officers, and healthcare providers, with the various HepPEd resources. The focus of the program – ‘Let’s talk about hep C’ – aims to promote and normalize conversations about hepatitis C testing and treatment among people in prison. HepPEd was evaluated within a research study conducted in two Australian prisons. ​
Today, HepPEd is available for use.
PARTNERSHIP & FUNDERS
The National Prisons Hepatitis Education Project was an NPHN initiative, undertaken by the Kirby Institute in partnership with ASHM. The project was conducted in collaboration with the national and state-based hepatitis and drug-user organisation, and the state and territory-based justice health and correctional organisations. Collaborators, participating organisations, and steering committee members can be found in the Report of Findings from the National Needs Assessment and Steering Committee Process.
​
HepPEd was funded by investigator-initiated educational grants from AbbVie and Gilead Sciences, the Eliminate Hepatitis C Australia Initiative (EC Australia), and a National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) Partnership Project.
CONTACT
For further queries about the HepPEd Program, please contact:
Yumi Sheehan
NPHN.coordinator@unsw.edu.au