Infectious Diseases Among Marginalised Populations
Date
2015
Authors
Saulo, Dina Raus
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
From February 2013 to November 2014 I undertook a field placement
at the Kirby Institute for Infection and Immunity in Society (the
Kirby Institute), as a part of a Master of Philosophy in Applied
Epidemiology (MAE). This bound volume is the product of projects
undertaken while at the Kirby Institute in the Justice Health
Research Program and the Public Health Interventions Research
Group. Within are six chapters which demonstrate work undertaken,
lessons learnt, knowledge gained and MAE requirements met.
Due to my placement predominantly in the justice health research
program, three out of four major projects have a focus on blood
borne viruses and associated risk factors among offender
populations. I evaluated the national prison entrant’s blood
borne virus and risk behaviour survey (NPEBBVS), the only
multi-jurisdictional prison BBV monitoring mechanism nationally.
As a data analysis project I explored hepatitis B core antibody
and hepatitis C antibody prevalence and associated risk factors
among Indigenous and non-Indigenous prison entrants from the
NPEBBVS. Findings from this chapter were presented at a number of
conferences and events. As an acute public health problem, I had
the opportunity to investigate hepatitis C (HCV) incidence cases
in a prison facility. We developed a case series study using
mixed methods to collect data on the unusual cluster of HCV
cases. I conducted both quantitative and qualitative interviews
with participating inmates to gather prisoner’s perspective of
HCV incidence, understanding routes of transmission in the prison
setting and possible strategies in decreasing exposure and risk.
From the start of 2013 I was involved in the ‘vaccine impact in
the Indigenous population’ (VIP- I) study with a large group of
investigators. The aim of VIP-I was to evaluate the effectiveness
of the HPV vaccine among Indigenous women in Australia. My role
in the study was as a field coordinator, chapter 5 demonstrates
my involvement from the development stage onwards. This chapter
is largely methodological, only preliminary results are presented
as recruitment is still ongoing.
Teaching experience during the MAE included; lessons from the
field and a group teaching session with MAE peers. I worked
individually on a project management module for the lesson from
the field exercise, my fellow MAE cohort completed this module
which touched on interdisciplinary collaboration in research. The
group teaching experience was created and conducted with two
fellow MAE scholars, we built a framework to distinguish real or
artificial rate change when interpreting time series data.
The projects within this thesis contribute to the Kirby
Institutes area of work with marginalised at risk populations. I
have been fortunate to be a part of a number of projects that
have potential to impact public health policy and programs for
both Indigenous and offender populations.
Description
Keywords
Aboriginal, Indigenous, Prison, Prisoners, BBV, Blood Borne Viruses, Hep C, HCV, Hepatitis C, Hepatitis B, HBV, Hep B, HPV, Human Papiloma Virus, HPV vaccine
Citation
Collections
Source
Type
Thesis (MPhil)
Book Title
Entity type
Access Statement
License Rights
Restricted until
Downloads
File
Description