- Title
- “They feel shame sometime, but that is why we need to talk to them…we need to tell them how important it is not to feel shame”: Hepatitis B related shame and improving hepatitis B care in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities
- Creator
- Sullivan, Richard P.; Bukulatjpi, Sarah Mariyalawuy; Davies, Jane; Binks, Paula; Hosking, Kelly; Nundhirribala, Patricia; Vintour-Cesar, Emily; McKinnon, Melita; Gurruwiwi, George; Green, Anna; Davis, Joshua S.
- Relation
- Archives of Public Health Vol. 82, no. 151
- Publisher Link
- http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s13690-024-01389-z
- Publisher
- Institut Scientifique de Sante Publique,Scientific Institut of Public Health
- Resource Type
- journal article
- Date
- 2024
- Description
- Background: The Aboriginal health workforce has unique insights given their healthcare experience and interactions with their communities. The aims of this project were to explore their perceptions of hepatitis B related shame and ways to improve hepatitis B care in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities of Northern Territory’s Top End, Australia. Methods: We conducted a qualitative study with guidance from the Menzies School of Health Research Infectious Diseases Indigenous Reference Group. The Aboriginal health workforce was asked to participate in semi-structured interviews exploring hepatitis B related shame and ways to improve hepatitis B care. Qualitative data were evaluated using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: There were fifteen semi-structured interviews with participants representing eight different communities. The experience of shame was reported by the Aboriginal health workforce to be common for individuals diagnosed with hepatitis B and comprised feelings of fear related to transmitting the virus, to being isolated, and to being at fault. Shame was mediated by poor health literacy, communication, the lack of culturally safe spaces and was perpetuated by intersecting stereotypes. Improvements in care can be achieved by utilising the Aboriginal health workforce more effectively, improving communication and the availability of culturally safe spaces, emphasising community connection, and reframing hepatitis B as a chronic condition. Conclusions: Hepatitis B related shame was an important issue and impactful in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the Top End of the Northern Territory. There were many facets to shame in these communities and it was mediated by several factors. The Aboriginal health workforce has emphasised several pathways to improve care and diminish the impact of shame, such as improving communication and the availability of culturally safe spaces.
- Subject
- stigma; hepatitis B; Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander People; healthcare; SDG 3; Sustainable Development Goal
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1514243
- Identifier
- uon:56832
- Identifier
- ISSN:0778-7367
- Rights
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License, which permits any non-commercial use, sharing, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if you modified the licensed material. You do not have permission under this licence to share adapted material derived from this article or parts of it. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/.
- Language
- eng
- Full Text
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