Theme: Epidemiology & Public Health Research Year: 2024
Background: Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations (ACCHOs) are primary health services operated and governed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (hereafter Aboriginal) communities to deliver holistic and culturally appropriate health care. Every Yarn Counts (EYC) is the first Australia-wide hepatitis C virus (HCV) health promotion campaign co-designed with a national reference group (NRG) of representatives from 13 ACCHOs in Australia. The NRG designed vibrant messaging to address three campaign strategies: to reach and raise awareness about HCV testing and treatment; destigmatise and normalize HCV; and support ACCHOs to engage people in conversations, testing, and treatment. This presentation shares the process of co-designing campaign messages for EYC.
Methods: From 2022-2023, six online co-design workshops were held with the NRG. The NRG agreed to adapt and refine messaging co-designed by peers with a lived experience of injecting drug use for a campaign targeting people who inject drugs (It’s Your Right). The NRG also developed additional messages specific to EYC.
NRG members surveyed Aboriginal clients and staff at their service to gauge their preferences around which messages appealed and resonated. Survey results were analysed and presented back to the NRG for message finalisation.
Results: The co-design process involved NRG members (n=10-15) and clients and staff of ACCHOs (n=103). Every Yarn Counts was chosen as the overall campaign theme and seven key messages were selected. Recruitment through ACCHOs helped generate trust amongst survey participants. Clients and staff supported the prioritisation of messages that utilised culturally appropriate language and emphasised the value of artwork in easily identifying the target audience for the campaign.
Conclusion: The co-design process created a way for Aboriginal cultural knowledge to shape the campaign messaging and engagement strategies and to foster a sense of self-determination of the EYC campaign among staff and clients of ACCHOs.
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