Our projects
Attitudes and barriers towards the acceptability of integrating finger-stick point-of-care testing to enhance treatment uptake in the prison setting: Perspectives of people in prison health personnel, correctional personnel and stakeholders (The PIVOT Study)
Status
Completed
Investigators
The Problem
There is a close relationship between imprisonment, injecting drug use, and HCV. Individuals with chronic HCV who spend some time in prison are likely to represent the most marginalised and ‘hard-to-access’ subgroup of the affected population. In addition, the prison environment is a key venue for ongoing transmissions.
The PIVOT project aims to evaluate a ‘one-stop shop’ approach with point-of-care HCV RNA testing, linkage to hepatitis care, non-invasive liver disease assessment, and same-visit direct-acting antiviral (DAA) treatment initiation, with an intent to improve efficiencies in HCV care in the ‘real-world’ high throughput of imprisonment, short stay, and release. It is anticipated interviews with both stakeholders and personnel taking part in PIVOT will inform national scale up of point-of-care HCV RNA testing within prisons. Interviews with personnel and stakeholders will explore the role of point-of-care HCV RNA testing within a highly mobile, transient population group in addressing Australia’s commitment to eliminate HCV as a public health threat by 2030.
The Solution
This social science research project seeks to investigate the acceptability of point-of-care HCV RNA testing among people in prison (patients), Justice Health staff, and Corrective Services staff, and key administrators from both agencies, with a view to contribute to scale up of point-of-care HCV RNA testing across correctional centres in Australia.
Related Publications
Reducing barriers to the hepatitis C care cascade in prison via point-of-care RNA testing: a qualitative exploration of men in prison using an integrated framework.
Lise Lafferty, Yumi Sheehan, Amanda Cochrane, Jason Grebely, Andrew R. Lloyd, Carla Treloar. Society for the study of addiction.