ABSTRACT
Hepatitis C is regarded as a significant and fastgrowing public health problem in Australia. At the end of 2008, there were an estimated 284,000 people who had been exposed to hepatitis C, of whom 212,000 were estimated to have chronic hepatitis C. Injection5 drug use (IDU) is the primary cause of hepatitis C, accounting for 80% of all cases (National Centre in HIV Epidemiology and Clinical Research, 2009). Hepatitis C is a stigmatized disease that is difficult to live with and is often associated with drug and alcohol10 problems, mental health problems, poor general health, unstable lifestyles, and other problems of a psychosocial nature (Anti-Discrimination Board of New South Wales, 2001; Dore, Law, MacDonald, & Kaldor, 2003; Hopwood & Treloar, 2003; Zigmund, Ho, Masuda,15 Ippolito, & LaBrecque, 2003). Projections of the future burden of chronic hepatitis C, advanced liver disease, and cirrhosis on the health care system of Australia indicate that the number of people accessing treatment for their hepatitis C will triple (Ministerial Advisory20 Committee on AIDS Sexual Health and Hepatitis C Sub-Committee, 2006). In consideration of these projections, it seemed relevant to investigate how the presence of a social worker on a treatment team could aid the treatment process for people with hepatitis C. The25 lack of guidelines and shortage of literature on the role
of the social worker in hepatitis C treatment became apparent during the literature search for this study. Although there are similarities with other areas of social work in chronic and stigmatized diseases, such as HIV,30 it is important to consider the intricacies of the hepatitis C disease specifically and the psychosocial factors associated with the disease and treatment thereof, to tailor social work services to suit the needs of the clients and the rest of the multidisciplinary treatment team.35
