Theme: Models of Care Year: 2024
Background: HCV elimination in England has seen substantial progress in engaging populations that tend to be excluded from health services. However, progress still needs to be made in reaching people who are using drugs, not engaged with drug treatment or harm reduction services, who often face major exclusion from mainstream healthcare. To address this, The Hepatitis C Trust (HCT) Wessex Peer Team, operating on the South coast of England, began recruiting people with living experience of drug use as volunteers to reach these communities. The work of these “Hep C Ambassadors” focuses on engaging underserved populations to disseminate harm reduction messages and promote testing.
Description of model of care/intervention/program: Volunteer/staff recruited Ambassadors receive training in key messages and encouraging people to access testing. Ambassador roles are supported and managed, but not formally structured; there is no expectation of consistency and ambassadors can deliver HCV interventions as needed. Following testing the Ambassadors and their contacts are rewarded with incentive vouchers.
Effectiveness: Since November 2023, thirteen ambassadors have been recruited. Ambassadors brought 15 forward for testing.
Five people tested (33.3%) had HCV antibodies. Two (13.3%) had HCV RNA, were unknown to local services and were unlikely tested otherwise. Both have now started treatment.
Feedback from Ambassadors has identified many benefits to undertaking these roles, including providing a sense of purpose and responsibility and an opportunity to gain skills for people who aren’t ready to commit to formal volunteering.
This approach is particularly beneficial in smaller rural towns where pockets of drug use take place.
Conclusion and next steps: This collaborative, flexible approach provides important engagement for communities who need testing for HCV and are not engaged with services. It also provides an important volunteering opportunity for people not yet ready for a more structured role. The programme will be developed by specifically recruiting from communities such as Traveller populations, LGBTQ++ and sex workers.