Arts Design & Architecture

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • (2021) Gardner, Kristy
    Thesis
    This study takes a deliberate strengths-based approach to identify the sources of sexual health information accessed by Aboriginal young people from one community in Western Sydney, and the role of technology in their information seeking. The research design draws on Aboriginal Ways of Knowing, Being and Doing (Martin & Mirraboopa, 2003) to position Aboriginal young people’s knowledge and experiences as central to the research as participants, peer interviewers and ultimately peer researchers. The research methods were qualitative; peer-led interviews with 23 Aboriginal young people in Western Sydney were conducted. Peer interviewers were selected in consultation with members of a local Aboriginal community. Three male and five female interviewers were selected to ensure that cultural expectations were met regarding the need to discuss issues around sexual health with a person of the same gender. The findings showed that participants used the internet to access information about physical symptoms because searching for information online allowed privacy. Participants then approached trusted sources, including those with whom they had formal relationships (doctors, teachers, counsellors) and informal relationships (family members, friends), to check that the information participants found online was correct and trustworthy. In this context young people used the internet as a triaging tool. The participants were also aware that their formal sources of help and advice, such as teachers, might have to undertake mandatory reporting if certain subject matter were discussed, although the parameters around this obligation and their understanding of which particular professionals were required to do so were not always clear. The research findings therefore have important implications for how sexual health education programs for Aboriginal young people living in urban areas should be targeted.

  • (2008) Mackie, Brent Donalson
    Thesis
    This project critically examines the question Are HIV/AIDS prevention campaigns more effective at engaging gay men if they use colloquial language and sexually explicit imagery? by investigating the impact of sexually explicit campaigns on the Sydney gay community. The project approaches the question in three parts: 1. A review of literature exploring the circumstances in which and for what reasons sexually explicit HIV/AIDS campaigns are produced. 2. An analysis of seven interviews with producers of HIV prevention campaigns exploring how, why, where and for what reasons explicit campaigns are produced. 3. An analysis of eight interviews with homosexually active Sydney men exploring how HIV prevention campaigns are viewed, consumed and understood. The interviews were in-depth, semi-structured and conducted over one hour per interviewee. The findings are dominated by two interrelated and at times conflicting themes. First, that there is a strongly held belief by campaign producers that the most effective HIV prevention campaigns targeting gay men are produced by the community and reflect that community and as a result must at times be sexually explicit. Second, that it is no longer sufficient for HIV prevention campaigns to rely on explicit sex to attract attention. In an environment where visual images, and sexually explicit visual images especially, are becoming more accessible, and media and communication is more prevalent and complex, safe sex campaigns are forced to deliver ever more sophisticated and stimulating creative materials in order to maintain the engagement of gay men. The interviews revealed that both campaign producers and consumers participated in the production of a visual literacy of safe sex campaigns. This literacy was necessary to both effectively produce and comprehend the campaigns. The interviews showed that while HIV prevention campaigns that use sexually explicit language and imagery can be highly effective at engaging gay men, the success of sexually explicit campaigns is contextual that is, dependent on where, to whom and in what circumstances the materials are delivered. The audience’s accumulation of knowledge and cultural experience when viewing the campaigns, in other words their safe sex campaign literacy, significantly influenced their capacity to understand, appreciate and be engaged with sexually explicit HIV prevention campaigns.

  • (2008) Mouton, Marlize
    Thesis
    Hepatitis C is a fast growing infectious disease in Australia and is often associated with related psycho-social and mental health problems. The conventional treatment process for hepatitis C is challenging due to a number of reasons. This study explored social workers’ perceptions of the contribution of their role in hepatitis C treatment centres in relation to the treatment experience of patients. The roles that social workers fulfill, their contribution to the multidisciplinary team and towards a culturally competent service, were explored. Furthermore the knowledge, skills and values required for providing a competent service in a hepatitis C treatment setting was explored. The broad theoretical frameworks that inform social work practice were considered, especially the biopsycho-social model, the strengths perspective, the critically reflexive approach and communications theory. This qualitative study used a semi-structured interview method for data collection. Ten social workers in hepatitis C treatment clinics participated in the study. The findings highlight the needs of patients and how social worker participants described helping to address and meet these needs by employing their knowledge, skills and values through their social work roles and interventions in a team context in a multicultural and multi-faceted work environment. A major challenge that social workers described was to keep patients on treatment despite debilitating side effects that diminish patients' motivation to complete treatment. A shortcoming in the service was described to be the limited psychiatric support available at many treatment centres. The findings lead to a number of recommendations to improve social work services in hepatitis C treatment settings. More research was recommended in areas such as motivational techniques, psychiatric support, and effective group work strategies. The need for increased funding for social work positions in the hepatitis C field was also highlighted. It is anticipated that findings of this study can be applied to hepatitis C treatment in broader settings such as prisons, drug and alcohol settings and general practice. This research will contribute to literature in the field of hepatitis C treatment models and in the field of social work practice in hepatitis C contexts.

  • (2016) Bains, Anthony
    Thesis
    We are arguably at a critical point in the history of the HIV epidemic. HIV prevention has entered a new era with the emergence of biomedical interventions such as ‘treatment as prevention’ (TasP). However, the dialogue related to these developments is polarised. Terms like ‘revolution’ have been used by some leaders in the field to forecast the end of the epidemic and this optimism is influencing the development of prevention strategy. Yet TasP has also generated criticism, particularly the perception that the public health benefits of treatment are being prioritised before individual well-being. Significantly, people living with HIV have been largely absent from the public discourse on TasP, with little opportunity to discuss their views about its potential impact on their lives. In response to this absence, the study for this thesis explored the perceptions that HIV-positive gay and bisexual men had towards TasP when the debate was beginning to influence HIV prevention strategy in Australia. A qualitative methodology was employed, which involved interviews with 22 HIV-positive gay and bisexual men in New South Wales. A modified interpretative phenomenological analysis was used to examine the data, an approach which explores how participants make sense of their world and give meaning to their experiences (Smith and Osborn, 2003). By exploring perceptions of TasP, this thesis has generated new insights into HIV-positive gay and bisexual men’s relationships with HIV treatment and their feelings about the role of treatment in HIV prevention. Trust in treatment’s effects on health was stronger than trust in its role in prevention, and most men still perceived themselves as potentially infectious despite TasP’s message that treatment reduces infectiousness and the risk of HIV transmission. However, there was also an anticipation of the potential opportunities that TasP might present for serodiscordant relationships. The implications of the study are discussed in terms of the complex challenges and opportunities that TasP presents for HIV-positive gay and bisexual men and what these mean for the HIV sector. The thesis also underlines the critical need to engage with those individuals most affected by this prevention technology who are instrumental to its success.

  • (2013) Wilson, Hannah
    Thesis
    Research shows that some young people who are at risk for acquiring hepatitis C have inadequate knowledge of hepatitis C and limited access to harm reduction services. This study investigates the innovative method of using tattoo studios to distribute harm reduction to at risk young people. The study explores the willingness of tattooists to deliver harm reduction as well as the factors that could influence their willingness to deliver harm reduction. These factors include professional identity, client rapport, hepatitis C knowledge, attitudes towards hepatitis C and people who inject drugs (PWID) and perceptions of how controllable injecting drug use is perceived to be. Attempts were made to recruit from the population of New South Wales tattooists using reply paid postal surveys. Due to a lower than expected response additional recruitment strategies were adopted, including expanding into Victoria and Queensland. Additionally, a qualitative in-depth interview component was incorporated into the study to further explore the quantitative findings. Findings from the survey indicated that respondents were willing to deliver harm reduction information relating to hepatitis C, for example the locations of hepatitis C testing services, but were significantly less willing to deliver information on safe injecting practices or needle and syringe programs. The quantitative and qualitative data together suggested that respondents were highly committed to developing rapport with their clients. Consequently, respondents acknowledged clients frequently confided in them like a therapist. Both quantitative and qualitative data illustrated that respondents held negative attitudes towards PWID. However, respondents' overall attitude towards PWID was not associated with their willingness to deliver harm reduction. Finally, the more respondents perceived injecting drug use (IDU) to be under the control of the individual, the less willing they were to distribute information about safe injecting practices. This study suggests that most tattooists would be willing to deliver harm reduction information regarding hepatitis C to at risk young people. However, before this can occur tattooists' perceptions of IDU should be targeted. This could involve tattooists attending stigma-reduction education workshops. Prior research suggests that such interventions can have a significant impact on participants' perceptions of the responsibility of stigmatised individuals for their stigma.

  • (2010) Mietinen, Jan Roar
    Thesis
    This thesis is a qualitative study investigating the communication about sexual health between HIV-positive gay men and their doctors and other health care providers. The study was conducted in 2007 and 2008 in Sydney, Australia. Data was collected through in-depth interviews with eleven HIV-positive gay men, and analysed according to a modified grounded theory approach. The study aims to explore the men’s needs, expectations and experiences in relation to how sexual health is addressed in clinical consultations. While previous research has documented that HIV/AIDS is a diagnosis that poses significant physical, emotional and social challenges for People Living With HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) which may impact on their sexual health and well-being, this thesis examines whether, and to what extent this is communicated between HIV-positive gay men and their doctors. In doing so the study identifies and describes the ways in which HIV-positive gay men understand sexual health, how they currently talk to their clinicians about sexual health issues, the priority that such issues have for these men, and barriers and ‘incentives’ to sexual health being discussed within HIV treatment settings. The study reveals that the men’s communication about sexual health with their doctors is essentially limited to discussions about sexually transmissible infections (STIs), which represent a common understanding of what constitutes sexual health. The emotional and social aspects of sexual health and well-being are rarely discussed in doctor-patient communication. Instead, the men rely on sources outside the health system, such as friends, peers, partners, gay and HIV community organizations and the gay and HIV media for sexual health information, advice and support. This indicates that broad, holistic sexual health has a low priority in discussions between patients and their doctors, and that social networks therefore play an important role in how HIV-positive gay men take care of their sexual health.