Educating AMEP Students About Hepatitis

LiverWELL’s Multicultural Community Educator Alain Palines held a session with two classes at Laverton Community Education Centre on 27 April as part of our program which engages students under the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP).

Large numbers of new chronic hepatitis B cases are in people migrating from hepatitis B endemic areas, such as Southeast and Northeast Asia. There are many challenges that organisations face in responding to the needs of these populations, especially when it comes to getting tested, vaccinated, and treated. We believe education sessions with the Adult Migrant English Program (AMEP) are an effective approach to connecting with culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, or priority populations.

Students at Laverton Community Education Centre were able to practice their English skills while also learning important information about hepatitis and their liver. The classes included animations, as well as reading and interactive activities. Students found the session to be informative and helpful.

Throughout the course of the program, we have surveyed participants’ attitudes toward hepatitis B through a series of pre and post-tests. The post-test results show that 70% of participants will speak to their GP about hepatitis B, 70% of participants will get tested for hepatitis B, 77% will tell others about hepatitis B, and 62% will get vaccinated against hepatitis B. These results are fantastic, and we hope to see more education centres and institutions engage with our AMEP sessions to help improve quality hepatitis B education for CALD communities.

If you would like to book a session with one of our Multicultural Educators, please contact us.