Background
In British Columbia, a lack of engagement is contributing to a rising tide of morbidity and mortality associated with hepatitis (HCV) infection and could impact Canada’s goal to eliminate HCV by 2030.[1]
In 2011-12, only 32% of people aware of their infection received liver-related monitoring or care. Another 13% of those affected were not engaged with any type of care.[2]
What is Hepatitis C: The Basics?
Key HCV-related patient and provider knowledge gaps are associated with low engagement in HCV care and Hepatitis C: The Basics was designed to address these knowledge gaps.[3] The course was developed using a national collaborative research process with people affected by hepatitis C, community stakeholders working with populations affected by hepatitis C, and providers.[4]
Designed for people affected by hepatitis C and front line health care providers, Hepatitis C: The Basics provides basic education for those transitioning into HCV care and supports plain language patient education discussions.
More about the course:
- Free course accessible on LearningHub or by request for offline use;
- 30–60 minutes long and self-paced;
- narrated with plain, non-stigmatizing language;
- certificate provided (upon completion of post-course quiz and evaluation) and companion resources available (print and PDF).[5]
Evaluation outcomes
Knowledge checks were embedded in the online course as pre- and post- course surveys; surveys were also collected on paper forms at community screenings. In addition, the post-course survey included a course evaluation component. Matched pre/post-survey data was obtained for 413 of 511 participants: 286 (of 345) online participants who were mostly providers, and 127 (of 166) community event participants who were mostly people living with or at-risk for HCV.
Results confirmed the presence of ongoing HCV knowledge gaps and total pre/post-survey gains were significant across providers and people at-risk/affected across multiple settings. Over 50% of participants reported perceived knowledge gains of “a lot” or higher. More than half of providers reported the course increased their capacity to educate and encourage client engagement in care by “a lot” or higher.
Conclusions
Hepatitis C: The Basics can effectively increase provider capacity and ability to educate clients and encourage client engagement in care to further the goal of hepatitis C elimination.
References
- Myers RP, Krajden M, Bilodeau M, Kaita K, Marotta P, Peltekian K, Ramji A, Estes C, Razavi H, Sherman M. Burden of disease and cost of chronic hepatitis C virus infection in Canada. Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology & Hepatology 2014;28:243-50
- Janjua NZ, Kuo M, Yu A, Alvarez M, Wong S, Cook D, Wong J, Grebely J, Butt ZA, Samji H, Ramji A, Tyndall M, Krajden M. The population level cascade of care for Hepatitis C in British Columbia, Canada: The BC Hepatitis Testers Cohort (BC-HTC). EBioMedicine 2016;12:189-95. 10.1016/j.ebiom.2016.08.035
- Butt G, McGuinness L, Buller-Taylor T, Mitchell S. Reasons for nonattendance across the Hepatitis C disease course. ISRN Nurs 2013. 10.1155/2013/579529
- Buller-Taylor T, McGuinness L, Yan M, Janjua NZ. Reducing patient and provider knowledge gaps: An evaluation of a community informed hepatitis C online course. Patient Education and Counseling 2018;101(6):1095-1102. 10.1016/j.pec.2018.01.008
- Hepatitis Education Canada: Resource Centre http://hepatitiseducation.med.ubc.ca/resources/