National Prisons Hepatitis Education Project: Research Evaluation
Trial Snapshot
- Phase
- Not Applicable
- Status
- Recruiting
- Sponsor
- Kirby Institute
- Enrollment
- 3,000
- Locations
- 4
- Primary Endpoint
- The change in the proportion of prisoners treated for HCV before and after the education intervention.
Study Overview
Brief Summary
The National Prisons Hepatitis Education Program (HepPEd Program) is a national, prison-based hepatitis C health literacy education program for healthcare providers, correctional officers, and people in prison. The HepPEd Program aims to improve the public health literacy of the prison sector regarding hepatitis C in prisons.
The HepPEd: Research Evaluation aims to evaluate the impact of the HepPEd Program on HCV testing and treatment uptake amongst people incarcerated in Australian prisons, as well as changes in knowledge, attitudes, and capabilities of healthcare providers, correctional officers, and people in prison. The study is a controlled before and after study being conducted in 3-6 correctional centres in Australia.
Detailed Description
The National Prisons Hepatitis Education Program (HepPEd Program) is a national, prison-based hepatitis C health literacy education program for healthcare providers, correctional officers, and people in prison.
The broad goal of HepPEd: Research Evaluation is to measure the impact of a prison-specific hepatitis C (HCV) education program (the HepPEd Program) on enhancing HCV testing and treatment rates in Australian prisons. The HepPEd Program aims to improve HCV testing and treatment rates by enhancing the public health literacy of the prison sector regarding HCV in the prisons (that is the knowledge, attitudes and behaviours), and specifically targets the three key audience groups from the prison setting: healthcare providers, correctional officers, and people in prison.
The study will be conducted as a prison-level, controlled before-and-after trial with a primary objective of evaluating the impact of the HepPEd Program on HCV treatment uptake amongst people incarcerated in Australian prisons. Three to six Australian correctional centres will be selected to participate in the 9-month study. Each correctional centre will have a 3-month period of pre-intervention surveillance, involving monthly observation of HCV treatment uptake under existing operations. This will be followed by a three-month period of education delivery of the HepPEd Program (the 'education intervention'). The monthly surveillance data collection will continue during the intervention period. Finally, each correctional centre will have another 3-month period of post-intervention surveillance, again involving monthly surveillance of HCV treatment rates. Surveys will be conducted with members from each target audience group before and after the education intervention and dried blood spot testing will be conducted with members from the people in prison group to assess baseline HCV prevalence before the education intervention.
Study Design
- Study Type
- Interventional
- Allocation
- Na
- Intervention Model
- Single Group
- Primary Purpose
- Other
- Masking
- None
Eligibility Criteria
- Ages
- 18 Years to — (Adult, Older Adult)
- Sex
- All
- Accepts Healthy Volunteers
- Yes
Inclusion Criteria
- Not provided
Exclusion Criteria
- Not provided
Arms & Interventions
Whole-of-prison education intervention
The HepPEd Program will saturate the entire prison during a 3-month intervention phase.
Intervention: Education Intervention (The HepPEd Program) (Other)
Outcomes
Primary Outcomes
The change in the proportion of prisoners treated for HCV before and after the education intervention.
Time Frame: 9 months from baseline
This will be measured by calculating the change in HCV treatment rates before and after the education intervention.
Secondary Outcomes
- The health literacy (knowledge, attitudes, and capabilities) amongst target audience groups (healthcare providers, correctional officers, and people in prison) before and after the education intervention.(9 months from baseline)
- The proportion of prisoners tested for HCV before and after the education intervention.(9 months from baseline)
- The acceptability, utility, and impact of the HepPEd Program.(9 months from baseline)
- The dose, reach, and fidelity of the HepPEd Program.(9 months from baseline)