Understanding 'risk' in families living with mixed blood-borne viral infection status: The doing and undoing of 'difference'.

'Risk' has long been at the centre of expert and popular perceptions of transmissible and stigmatised blood-borne viral infections, such as HIV and viral hepatitis. There is a substantial body of research on transmission risk among couples with mixed viral infection status (serodiscordance). But we know very little about how families affected by HIV and viral hepatitis engage with understandings of infectiousness and how these shape family relationships in different ways. Guided by cultural theories of risk that build on Mary Douglas' work, we draw on qualitative interviews to explore the 'performativity' of risk in serodiscordant families in Australia. We show how the 'doing' of risk could be constitutive of difference, which unsettled the family connection or deepened existing fault lines. Conversely, the 'undoing' of risk enabled the preservation of the family bond by rejecting difference and reframing risk as an external threat to the family in the form of stigma. We conclude that risk in the context of serodiscordant families had relational implications far beyond viral transmission and consider what our findings might mean for service provision and health promotion campaigns related to blood-borne viruses.

Health practitioner and student attitudes to caring for transgender patients in Tasmania: An exploratory qualitative study.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Healthcare practitioners struggle to provide inclusive and affirming care to transgender (trans) people. This study examined Tasmanian healthcare practitioners' and students' understandings and approaches to trans health. METHOD: The study comprised qualitative semi-structured interviews with 17 healthcare practitioners (doctors, psychologists, nurses and other allied health workers) and students (of medicine, nursing and pharmacy) across Tasmania, Australia. Data were analysed using a reflexive thematic analysis. RESULTS: The authors identified three key themes: lack of training in trans healthcare, limited resources to support trans patients, and the importance and challenges of trans-inclusive language. DISCUSSION: Healthcare practitioners faced challenges providing inclusive and affirming healthcare for trans people due to limited experience with trans patients, and few educational opportunities and referral pathways to support patients. Healthcare practitioners need better support and resources to improve quality of care.