IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jijerp/v22y2025i2p238-d1585933.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘You’ve Just Got to Keep Pestering’: Barriers and Enablers of Attaining Continuity of Hepatitis C Care for People Transitioning Between Prison and Community Health Services in South-East Queensland, Australia

Author

Listed:
  • Idin Panahi

    (School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia)

  • Linda A. Selvey

    (School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia)

  • Cheneal Puljević

    (School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia)

  • Amanda Kvassay

    (Queensland Injectors Health Network, Bowen Hills, QLD 4006, Australia)

  • Dorrit Grimstrup

    (Queensland Injectors Health Network, Bowen Hills, QLD 4006, Australia)

  • Andrew Smirnov

    (School of Public Health, The University of Queensland, Herston, QLD 4006, Australia)

Abstract

Highly effective direct-acting antiviral (DAA) therapies for hepatitis C (HCV) have been available in Australian prisons since 2016. To address treatment interruption following release from prisons, the Queensland Injector’s Health Network (QuIHN) launched a Prison Transition Service (PTS) in south-east Queensland, Australia. Presently, the factors associated with continuity of post-release HCV care are poorly understood. The objective of this qualitative study was to explore the barriers and facilitators to HCV treatment among people recently released from prisons among PTS clients and stakeholders. Qualitative interviews were conducted with 27 participants, namely, 13 clients and 14 stakeholders (health and community support workers) of the PTS. We conducted thematic analysis using the framework of person-, provider-, and system-level barriers and facilitators. Person-level barriers included competing priorities post-release, while facilitators included self-improvement after treatment completion, preventing transmission to family, and social support. Provider-level treatment barriers included enacted stigma, limited prison health service capacity, and post-release health system challenges. Systemic barriers included stigma relating to HCV, injecting drug use, incarceration, and limited availability of harm reduction services. Policy changes and investment are required to expand HCV treatment in south-east Queensland prisons to facilitate patient navigation into community care. In terms of reducing stigma among health staff and the general community towards people with HCV, a history of incarceration and/or who inject drugs is crucial for improving treatment rates. Strategies such as peer-led or nurse-practitioner-led models of care may help improve treatment completion. Continuity of HCV treatment post-release from prisons is essential for Australia to meet the WHO’s 2030 HCV elimination target.

Suggested Citation

  • Idin Panahi & Linda A. Selvey & Cheneal Puljević & Amanda Kvassay & Dorrit Grimstrup & Andrew Smirnov, 2025. "‘You’ve Just Got to Keep Pestering’: Barriers and Enablers of Attaining Continuity of Hepatitis C Care for People Transitioning Between Prison and Community Health Services in South-East Queensland, A," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 22(2), pages 1-18, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:2:p:238-:d:1585933
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/238/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/22/2/238/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Parker, Richard & Aggleton, Peter, 2003. "HIV and AIDS-related stigma and discrimination: a conceptual framework and implications for action," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(1), pages 13-24, July.
    2. Gilson, Lucy, 2003. "Trust and the development of health care as a social institution," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(7), pages 1453-1468, April.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Thomas Porter & Jane Chuma & Catherine Molyneux, 2009. "Barriers to managing chronic illness among urban households in coastal Kenya," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 21(2), pages 271-290.
    2. Mazanderani, Fadhila & Paparini, Sara, 2015. "The stories we tell: Qualitative research interviews, talking technologies and the ‘normalisation’ of life with HIV," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 131(C), pages 66-73.
    3. Chen Zhang & Xiaoming Li & Yu Liu & Shan Qiao & Liying Zhang & Yuejiao Zhou & Zhenzhu Tang & Zhiyong Shen & Yi Chen, 2016. "Stigma against People Living with HIV/AIDS in China: Does the Route of Infection Matter?," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(3), pages 1-15, March.
    4. Winskell, Kate & Sabben, Gaëlle, 2016. "Sexual stigma and symbolic violence experienced, enacted, and counteracted in young Africans’ writing about same-sex attraction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 143-150.
    5. Coast, Joanna, 2018. "A history that goes hand in hand: Reflections on the development of health economics and the role played by Social Science & Medicine, 1967–2017," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 227-232.
    6. Smirnova, Michelle & Owens, Jennifer Gatewood, 2017. "Medicalized addiction, self-medication, or nonmedical prescription drug use? How trust figures into incarcerated women's conceptualization of illicit prescription drug use," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 183(C), pages 106-115.
    7. Rivers, Ian & Gonzalez, Cesar & Nodin, Nuno & Peel, Elizabeth & Tyler, Allan, 2018. "LGBT people and suicidality in youth: A qualitative study of perceptions of risk and protective circumstances," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 212(C), pages 1-8.
    8. Joan Costa-i-Font & Cristina Vilaplana-Prieto, 2023. "Health System Trust and Compliance with Covid-19 Restrictions," CESifo Working Paper Series 10291, CESifo.
    9. Franz Hanschmidt & Franziska Lehnig & Steffi G Riedel-Heller & Anette Kersting, 2016. "The Stigma of Suicide Survivorship and Related Consequences—A Systematic Review," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 11(9), pages 1-16, September.
    10. Stasiulis, Elaine & Gibson, Barbara E. & Webster, Fiona & Boydell, Katherine M., 2020. "Resisting governance and the production of trust in early psychosis intervention," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 253(C).
    11. Rosemarie Sheehan & Gerard Fealy, 2020. "Trust in the nurse: Findings from a survey of hospitalised children," Journal of Clinical Nursing, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 29(21-22), pages 4289-4299, November.
    12. Jae-Young Lim & Hyun-Hoon Lee & Yeon-Hee Hwang, 2011. "Trust on doctor, social capital and medical care use of the elderly," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 12(2), pages 175-188, April.
    13. Frederick, Angela, 2017. "Visibility, respectability, and disengagement: The everyday resistance of mothers with disabilities," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 181(C), pages 131-138.
    14. Yang, Lawrence Hsin & Kleinman, Arthur, 2008. "'Face' and the embodiment of stigma in China: The cases of schizophrenia and AIDS," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(3), pages 398-408, August.
    15. Dyer, Thomas Anthony & Owens, Janine & Robinson, Peter Glenn, 2014. "The acceptability of care delegation in skill-mix: The salience of trust," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 117(2), pages 170-178.
    16. Xue-Jing Liu & Gustavo S. Mesch, 2020. "The Adoption of Preventive Behaviors during the COVID-19 Pandemic in China and Israel," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 17(19), pages 1-18, September.
    17. Yang, Lawrence H. & Chen, Fang-pei & Sia, Kathleen Janel & Lam, Jonathan & Lam, Katherine & Ngo, Hong & Lee, Sing & Kleinman, Arthur & Good, Byron, 2014. "“What matters most:” A cultural mechanism moderating structural vulnerability and moral experience of mental illness stigma," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 103(C), pages 84-93.
    18. Jamison, Amelia M. & Quinn, Sandra Crouse & Freimuth, Vicki S., 2019. "“You don't trust a government vaccine”: Narratives of institutional trust and influenza vaccination among African American and white adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 221(C), pages 87-94.
    19. Ahmed, Shahira & Autrey, Jessica & Katz, Ingrid T. & Fox, Matthew P. & Rosen, Sydney & Onoya, Dorina & Bärnighausen, Till & Mayer, Kenneth H. & Bor, Jacob, 2018. "Why do people living with HIV not initiate treatment? A systematic review of qualitative evidence from low- and middle-income countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 213(C), pages 72-84.
    20. Syed Mustafa Ali & Naveed Anjum & Muhammad Ishaq & Farah Naureen & Arif Noor & Aamna Rashid & Syed Muslim Abbas & Kerri Viney, 2019. "Community Knowledge about Tuberculosis and Perception about Tuberculosis-Associated Stigma in Pakistan," Societies, MDPI, vol. 9(1), pages 1-12, January.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:22:y:2025:i:2:p:238-:d:1585933. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.