Abstract
Background
Chronic hepatitis B (CHB) is endemic in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population of Australia's Northern Territory. Progression to liver disease can be prevented if holistic care is provided. Low health literacy amongst health professionals is a known barrier to caring for people living with CHB. We co-designed and delivered a culturally safe "Managing hepatitis B"training course for the Aboriginal health workforce. Here, we present an evaluation of the course.
Objectives
1. To improve course participants CHB-related knowledge, attitudes, and clinical practice. 2. To evaluate the "Managing hepatitis B"training course. 3. To enable participants to have the skills and confidence to be part of the care team.
Methods
We used participatory action research and culturally safe principles. We used purpose-built quantitative and qualitative evaluation tools to evaluate our "Managing hepatitis B"training course. We integrated the two forms of data, deductively analysing codes, grouped into categories, and assessed pedagogical outcomes against Kirkpatrick's training evaluation framework.
Results
Eight courses were delivered between 2019 and 2023, with 130 participants from 32 communities. Pre- and post-course questionnaires demonstrated statistically significant improvements in all domains, p<0.001 on 93 matched pairs. Thematic network analysis demonstrated high levels of course acceptability and significant knowledge acquisition. Other themes identified include cultural safety, shame, previous misinformation, and misconceptions about transmission. Observations demonstrate improvements in post-course engagement, a deep understanding of CHB as well as increased participation in clinical care teams.
Conclusions
The "Managing hepatitis B"training course led to a sustained improvement in the knowledge and attitudes of the Aboriginal health workforce, resulting in improved care and treatment uptake for people living with CHB. Important non-clinical outcomes included strengthening teaching and leadership skills, and empowerment.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Article number | e0288577 |
| Pages (from-to) | 1-23 |
| Number of pages | 23 |
| Journal | PLoS One |
| Volume | 19 |
| Issue number | 1 January |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jan 2024 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:Funding:TheAustralianNationalHealthand MedicalResearchCouncil(NHMRC)supported thiswork.ThisresearchispartoftheHepBPAST project,whichreceivesanNHMRCpartnership grant,GNT1151837.KHisundertakingaPhDand hasanNHRMCscholarship,GNT1190918.The fundershadnoroleinstudydesign,datacollection andanalysis,decisiontopublish,orpreparationof themanuscript.Therewasnoadditionalexternal fundingreceivedforthisstudy.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 Hosking et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
