ArticleHealth & justice2018
Hepatitis C virus screening and treatment in Irish prisons from a governor and prison officer perspective - a qualitative exploration.
Article in Health & justice, 2018. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
11 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 20 citations in OpenAlex.
- Best practice guidelines for viral hepatitis service delivery in prisons.The Lancet. Infectious diseases · 2026Pooled it
- A Qualitative Systematic Review of Barriers and Facilitators to Hepatitis B and C Programmes in Prisons.Journal of viral hepatitis · 2025Pooled it
- Prevalence and high risk behaviours associated with HCV testing among people who inject drugs: a systematic review and Meta-analysis.Substance abuse treatment, prevention, and policy · 2020Pooled it
- A Narrative Review of Dual Loyalty Conflicts in Custodial Settings and Implications for Community Practice.Health and human rights · 2025Review
- Hepatitis B and hepatitis C virus infections and associated factors among prisoners in Gondar City, Northwest Ethiopia.PloS one · 2024Article
- Reducing barriers to the hepatitis C care cascade in prison via point-of-care RNA testing: a qualitative exploration of men in prison using an integrated framework.Addiction (Abingdon, England) · 2023Article
- The impact of unrestricted access to direct-acting antiviral among incarcerated hepatitis C virus-infected patients.Clinical and molecular hepatology · 2021Article
- New hepatitis C virus infection, re-infection and associated risk behaviour in male Irish prisoners: a cohort study, 2019.Archives of public health = Archives belges de sante publique · 2021Article
- Disparities in hepatitis C care across Canadian provincial prisons: Implications for hepatitis C micro-elimination.Canadian liver journal · 2021Article
- Hepatitis C virus screening and treatment in Irish prisons from nurse managers' perspectives - a qualitative exploration.BMC nursing · 2019Article
- Competing priorities and second chances - A qualitative exploration of prisoners' journeys through the Hepatitis C continuum of care.PloS one · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundPrisons are a key location to access Hepatitis C Virus (HCV) infected people who inject drugs (PWID). Prison health care structures are complex and optimising health care delivery to this high need, marginalised and underserved population remains challenging. Despite international guidelines recommending that prisons are a priority location for HCV screening and treatment levels of prisoner engagement in HCV care remain low. Competing priorities between security and healthcare is a key feature of prison health care. A collaborative approach to health care delivery in prisons can maximise the benefits for prisoners, staff and the wider community.
aimTo identify the barriers and enablers to HCV screening and treatment in Irish prisons and inform the implementation of a HCV screening program within the Irish Prison Services (IPS).
methodsQualitative study using focus group methodology underpinned by grounded theory.
resultsThe following themes emerged from the analysis: priority of safety and security, staffing and resources, concerns about personal risk, lack of knowledge, concerns around confidentiality, prisoners' fear of treatment and stigma, timing of screening, use of peer workers, in-reach hepatology and fibroscanning services. The primary role of prison security is to ensure the safety of staff and prisoners with a secondary but important supporting role in health care delivery. Maintaining adequate staffing levels and the provision of training and education were seen as priorities and impacted on prison officers' fear for personal safety and risk of HCV transmission. Opt-out screening and peer support workers had high levels of support among participants.
conclusionUpscaling HCV management in prisons requires an in-depth understanding of all barriers and facilitators to HCV screening and treatment. Engaging prison officers in the planning and delivery of health care initiatives is a key strategy to optimising the public health opportunity that prisons provides.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.