YARNING ABOUT HPV

Gaining a comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents in the school-based human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination program.

  • The project aims to gain a comprehensive understanding of the factors that influence the participation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents in the school-based HPV vaccination program. To achieve this, we are employing an Indigenist research approach, using Indigenous methodologies and a socioecological model to investigate:

    1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents’ attitudes, beliefs, decision-making and experiences relating to HPV vaccination

    2. Caregivers’ (parents, guardians etc.) attitudes, beliefs, decision-making and experiences relating to HPV vaccination of their Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents

    3. Other key stakeholders’ perspectives and experiences of factors that impact access to, and uptake of, HPV vaccination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents (this will include relevant individuals from school, community, health-service and vaccination program settings); and

    4. The suitability and availability of current HPV vaccination promotional resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander audiences.

    Understanding the factors affecting HPV vaccination uptake among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adolescents is a critical component to reversing the current trajectory of cancer burden among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Together, this information provides the incentives and mechanisms to modify vaccination program delivery and improve coverage to better meet the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

  • Associate Professor Lisa Whop, Associate Professor Julia , Professor Gail Garvey, Professor Joan Cunningham , Dr Kate Anderson, Dr Tamara Butler, Associate Professor Allison Tong, Dr Jill Guthrie, Ms Aminata Morseu-Diop

  • This project is funded by the Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous scheme and is supported by the NHMRC-funded Centre of Research Excellence in Targeted Approaches to Improve Cancer Services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians (TACTICS).

  • Please contact Aminata Morseu-Diop – aminata.diop@anu.edu.au for more information.

  • If you would like to stay informed about this project, we share newsletters with project updates/progress to our Consultation Network. If you would like to join our Consultation Network, please send an email to Aminata Morseu-Diop (aminata.diop@anu.edu.au) and you will be added to our contact list.

Screen Your Way

Co-designed community implementation trial and evaluation to support self-collection roll out and inform national policy and practice around self-collection of HPV testing as part of national cervical screening program.

  • In this project, we will work with 12 ACCHOs across QLD, NT and NSW to co-design strategies to increase the use of self- collection for HPV testing in their communities, support them to implement these strategies in a 12-month trial and conduct an evaluation of effectiveness and impact. These findings will be used to inform national policy and scale up recommendations supporting the National Strategy for elimination of cervical cancer.

  • Associate Professor Lisa Whop, Associate Professor Julia Brotherton, Professor Gail Garvey, Professor Joan Cunningham, Dr Tamara Butler, Associate Professor Mark Wenitong, Professor Marion Saville, Dr Claire Nightingale, Associate Professor Megan Smith, Professor Rebecca Guy, Kristine Falzon, Ms Claudette Tyson, Ms Sonya Egert, Dr Jacki Mein, Professor Bev Lawton, Associate Professor Natalie Taylor, Dr Hamish McManus, Professor Karen Canfell

  • This work is supported by a NHMRC-funded 3-year TCR grant.

  • Please contact Deborah.wong@anu.edu.au – Research Coordinator for more information.

  • We are interested in hearing from services who would like to be involved in Screen Your Way. For more information on how you can be part of this study please contact eliminatecxca@anu.edu.au.

Aboriginal Health Worker Project

  • The clinical practice guidelines for cervical screening suggest that the availability of self-collection may enable more health care professionals to provide cervical screening, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professional workforce (respectively refers to health workers and practitioners).

    However, it is unknown how the workforces perceive what their role would be in delivering self-collection within the confines of their professional capacity, what roles they already play along the cervical screening pathway or what support or changes to current policy are needed to facilitate the use of self-collection within their role.

    Our study will use an Indigenist research approach and a mixed-methods participatory approach in partnership with the National Association of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Workers and Practitioners (NAATSIHWP) to achieve the following:

    1. A cross-sectional survey of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health professionals to understand the current roles and responsibilities the workforce already has along the cervical screening pathway and to gage the workforce’s aspiration in providing self-collection as a part of their role

    2. Focus group discussions with the workforce to define and explore how health professionals perceive how health worker/practitioner-led self-collection would work in practice, to identify barriers and facilitators to its implementation.

    3. Interviews with key policy and implementation stakeholders in cancer screening to understand how health worker/practitioner-led self-collection could be facilitated at a policy/health system level.

  • Associate Professor Lisa Whop, Ms Claire Zammit, Ms Aminata Morseu-Diop, Dr Tamara Butler, Mr Karl Briscoe, Ms Jodie Dennis, Professor Julia Brotherton

  • This work is supported by a NHMRC-funded 3-year TCR grant. This project will be conducted within 12 – 18 months.

  • Please contact Claire Zammit – claire.zammit@unimelb.edu.au for more information.

  • We are interested in hearing from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers and practitioners who are:

    1)Interested to learn more about cervical screening and self-collection cervical screening and how health workers and practitioners could facilitate its use

    2) Already are involved in supporting ot facilitating cervical screening and/or self-collection

    We are also interested in hearing from key policy and implementation stakeholders about ow health worker/practitioner-led self-collection could be facilitated at the health system level 

Investigating how workforces perceive what their role would be in delivering self-collection, what roles they already play along the cervical screening pathway and what support or changes to current policy they need to facilitate the use of self-collection within their role.

The Include study

Developing improved localised data on HPV vaccination and cervical screening coverage to help reduce cervical cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and people with a cervix. This project will link an existing linked data assets held by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), called the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) with other datasets.

  • Despite higher rates of cervical cancer among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and people with a cervix, it is difficult to get up to date and localised data on HPV vaccination and cervical screening to support improvements in these programs.

    This project will link an existing linked data assets held by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), called the Multi-Agency Data Integration Project (MADIP) with other datasets. It will then build a new digital health tool which can be used to deliver local, coordinated and up to date data to improve clinical practices, educational resources, national policies, and outcomes for patients.

  • Professor Claire Vajdic, Associate Professor Melissa Kang, Associate Professor Lisa Whop, Professor Rebecca Guy, Professor Julia Brotherton, Professor Susan Skinner, Associate Professor Kalinda Griffiths, Dr Dorothy Machalek, Associate Professor Megan Smith, Professor Deborah Bateson, Dr Sally Sweeney, Dr Hamish McManus, Professor Julian Trollor, Dr Cassandra Vujovich-Dunn, Dr Zoe Aitken

  • If you like the sound of this project and are interesting in being involved, there are opportunities to complete a Doctor of Philosopy within this study. Please contact Professor Claire Vajdic on vajdic@kirby.unsw.edu.au for more information.

  • Please contact Professor Claire Vajdic — vajdic@kirby.unsw.edu.au for more information.

  • This work is funded through a Medical Research Future Fund Primary Health Care Digital Innovations Grant held by Professor Claire Vajdic at The Kirby Institute, The University of New South Wales.

The Prevent Study

Trialling an innovative model of care to improve women’s participation in cervical screening and the assessment of cervical abnormalities in remote communities – through point-of-care testing, rapid test result delivery and same-day colposcopy (where indicated).

  • In Australia, there are a significant number of eligible Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women and people with a cervix, that have been unable to and/or have not participated in cervical screening that was offered through usual care (i.e., clinician collected specimen within healthcare services/clinics). If cervical cancer elimination is to be reached by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women, then we need a new cervical screening model that is community driven and adaptable to geographical challenges that arise through unexpected environmental circumstances.

    The PREVENT Project is uniquely placed to offer a new cervical screening option for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women who reside in rural and/or remote locations in Western Australia, by designing and delivering a new screening model that:

    • Is community driven and may facilitate women’s access and participation in cervical screening safely.

    • Provides a new cervical screening choice and opportunity for women that experience socio-economic and geographical challenges.

    • Places women’s autonomy and control over their cervical screening experience at the centre of its service model.

    • Can facilitate access to a same day specialist assessment (if required).

    Consequently, this study aimed to deliver a new and innovative cervical screening model by engaging with local specialist obstetricians and gynaecologists (who provide medical outreach services to Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities), providing healthcare providers with training and education about new and portable cervical screening equipment, and offering the same day specialist assessment (if required). Importantly, we will also investigate the acceptability and preference of this cervical screening model by Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander women and their healthcare providers who live in one of the most remote locations in the world.

  • Dr Aime Powell, Dr Jared Watts, Professor Jim Codde, Mrs Nerida Steel, Ms Kay Walley, Professor Yee Leung, Dr Lorraine Anderson, Dr Catherine Engelke, Dr Paul Cohen, Associate Professor Lisa Whop, Dr Tamara Butler, Professor Julia Brotherton, Associate Professor Megan Smith, James Killen, Associate Professor David Hawkes, Professor Marion Saville

  • The Commonwealth of Australia's Emerging Priorities Program, Australian Gynaecological Cancer Foundation & Mary Jane Foundation. This project is scheduled to be completed in October 2023.

  • Please contact Aime Powell — Aime.Powell@nd.edu.au for more information.

Point of Care HPV DEmonstration Project 

Implementing HPV point of care testing to deliver quicker screening results and make for a more successful and acceptable screening program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and people with a cervix, particularly in rural and remote areas.

  • For many people in remote communities, cervical screening specimens must be sent to far away laboratories, and there can be delays in returning screening results to clients and coordinating specialist follow up visits. This often means anxiety waiting for a test result, loss to follow up or avoidance of screening altogether, and delays in the diagnosis and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions and cancers.

    Point-of-care testing allows for the specimen to be tested for HPV on-site within the clinic. A test result can be given to the screening participant within 60 minutes and offers a potential solution to improve the experience and effectiveness of cervical screening to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and people with a cervix.

    This study aims to implement point of care HPV testing as part of the National Cervical Screening Program and to understand if it can improve the clinical effectiveness, acceptability, and cost effectiveness of screening for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, particularly those in regional and remote areas of Australia.

  • Professor Rebecca Guy, Dr Adam Bartlett, Dr Alison Marshall, Professor Andrew Lloyd, Professor Andrew Vallely, Associate Professor Angela Kelly-Hanku, Dr Annapurna Nori, Ms Annie Tangey, Associate Professor Asha Bowen, Dr Behzad Hajarizadeh, Dr Belinda Hengel, Professor Carla Treloar, Dr Caroline Watts, Dr Chris Coulter, Dr Clare Bradley, Dr Daniel Judge, Associate Professor David Regan, Dr David Speers, Associate Professor David Whiley, Dr Dawn Casey, Professor Deborah Williamson, Professor Donna Mak, Dr Dylan Barth, Dr Evan Cunningham, Professor Gail Matthews, Scientia Professor Greg Dore, Professor Greg Fox, Associate Professor Handan Wand, Ms Jackie Thomas, Associate Professor James Wood, Dr Janessa Pickering, Professor Jason Grebely, J'Belle Foster, Dr Jeffrey Cannon, Scientia Professor John Kaldor, Dr Josh Hanson, Associate Professor Julia Brotherton, Dr Julia Vnuk, Professor Katherine Boydell, Dr Lisa Vallely, Associate Professor Lisa Whop, Dr Lise Lafferty, Dr Louise Causer, Dr Manoji Gunathilake, Dr Marianne Martinello, Professor Marion Saville, Professor Mark Shephard, Dr Megan Smith, Mr Michael Lynch, Associate Professor Philip Cunningham, Dr Richard Gray, Associate Professor Rob Baird, Robert Monaghan, Dr Skye McGregor, Dr Sophy Shih, Dr Steve Badman, Associate Professor Susan Matthews, Dr Tanya Applegate, Professor Virginia Wiseman, Mr Wayne Dimech, Professor William Rawlinson

  • This work is funded through a Medical Research Future Fund Rapid Applied Research Translation Grant held by Professor Rebecca Guy at The Kirby Institute, The University of New South Wales.

  • Please contact study lead Lisa Whop — lisa.whop@anu.edu.au or research coordinator — ephillips@kirby.edu.au for more information.

  • We are interested in hearing from services who would like to be involved in this project. For more information on how you can be part of this study or to express interest, please contact lisa.whop@anu.edu.au or ephillips@kirby.edu.au