The lived experience of men and women with hepatitis C: implications for support needs and health information

Abstract

Meredith Temple-Smith is a Senior Research Fellow in the Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society, La Trobe University.Sandra Gifford is Professor of Public Health and Director of the Refugee Health Research Centre, La Trobe University.Mark StoovÚ is a Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences, Deakin University.Hepatitis C is Australia's most commonly notified infectious disease. Health education and support strategies that are gender-specific are key components of effective management of chronic illness, yet almost no information exists about gender-specific needs of those with hepatitis C. This paper reports on a qualitative study of the experiences of diagnosis, support and discrimination among men and women living with hepatitis C in Melbourne. Content analysis of indepth interviews conducted with 20 women and 12 men revealed gender related differences in relation to symptom recognition, health seeking attitudes and notions of social support, with men tending to dismiss the impact of their illness and their needs for education and support in comparison to women. Results highlight the need to take gender into account when addressing primary health care issues for people living with hepatitis C.