Engaging with the Pasifika and Somali communities in Melbourne to inform culturally safe and appropriate surveillance during infectious disease outbreaks — The Association Specialists
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  3. Engaging with the Pasifika and Somali communities in Melbourne to inform culturally safe and appropriate surveillance during infectious disease outbreaks

Engaging with the Pasifika and Somali communities in Melbourne to inform culturally safe and appropriate surveillance during infectious disease outbreaks (23805)

Adrian J Marcato 1 , Juliana Lologa 2 , Nicole Chatterton 3 , Dilanka Hettiarachchi 1 , Emma Van Den Helm 3 , Juan Pablo Villanueva-Cabezas 4 , Violeta Spirkoska 1 , Niamh Meagher 1 , David J Price 1 5 , Miranda Z Smith 1 , Mel Chisholm 3 , Alison Coelho 6 , Annaliese van Diemen 3 , Jodie McVernon 1
  1. Department of Infectious Diseases, The University of Melbourne at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  2. Collateral Culture, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  3. North Eastern Public Health Unit, Austin Health, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  4. Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria, Universidad San Sebastián, Concepción, Chile
  5. Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  6. Coelho Networks, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

 

Background

Members of refugee and migrant communities are frequently unreached by public health initiatives due to limited service access and language barriers, and are typically underrepresented in surveillance data used to inform health responses. While participatory research has explored community sentiments towards public health response measures in infectious disease outbreaks, few studies have proactively explored acceptability of participation in upstream surveillance activities.

 

Methods

We developed a model of community engagement involving researchers, public health officials and community partners to explore how existing infectious disease surveillance strategies would need to be adapted to be culturally appropriate. We engaged 14 members of the Pasifika community in Melbourne, conducting a full-day in-person workshop with supplementary pre- and post-workshop surveys. Structured discussions in the workshop explored experiences of COVID-19 and the acceptability and feasibility of surveillance approaches including data collection and usage, specimen testing, recruitment strategies, participation incentives, and immunisation.


Results

Participants described financial hardship, social isolation, and lack of in-language health information for older community members with limited English proficiency. Vaccine hesitancy was prevalent and multifactorial, driven by misinformation, mistrust of health and government institutions, and lack of culturally tailored information. Participants were generally comfortable with self-administered testing at home, though this did not extend to home visits from health professionals. Blood collection was only considered acceptable and necessary for serious outbreaks. Key participation enablers included food-based or financial incentives, and plain-language information delivered through trusted faith leaders and community radio.

 

Conclusions

This case study of our engagement approach demonstrates the value of embedding equity through shared decision-making in the design and implementation of enhanced surveillance activities. Extending this model to other communities and sustaining engagement is essential to ensure acceptability and relevance, and support generation of representative data in the early stages of an outbreak that informs equitable health responses.