TBA (23W121)

The Impact of a Community Development Worker on The Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) Service in Cork.

Author(s)

O'Connor,L.,O'Leary, M.,O'Connor,C.,kenny,E., Crosbie,O., Kiat,C.

Department(s)/Institutions

Hepatology Department, Cork University Hospital.

Introduction

It is well documented that testing and treatment of HCV in people who inject drugs (PWIDs) and the homeless is a challenge. An audit carried out in CUH in 2019 identified that referrals from addiction and homeless services were low. This emphasised the need for increased screening in the addiction and homeless services. In late March 2023 a Community Development Worker (CDW) was recruited to the Cork HCV community team.

Aims/Background

The aim of the study was to evaluate the impact of the CDW on the HCV service in Cork.

Method

A retrospective review of contemporaneously collected data on individuals screened and treated for HCV who were also engaged in the addiction or homeless service in Cork from late March to October 2023.

Results

The CDW has screened 50 patients opportunistically to date across a range of settings. 24% (n=12) of these were HCV antibody positive. 58% (n=7) of these were positive for current HCV infection. 4 of these have commenced treatment to date. In addition, the CDW has participated in some of the scheduled ‘pop-up’ screening days in the addiction and homeless centers where 70 patients were screened. 8.6% (n= 6) of these were HCV antibody positive. 66.67% (n=4) of these were positive for current HCV infection.

Conclusions

The CDW has proven to be highly effective in the detection of HCV in hard to reach groups and also in assisting those in the homeless and addiction services to engage with HCV treatment.