Dr Vanessa Sparke
Biography:
Vanessa is an infection prevention and control clinician, educator and researcher with expertise in rural and remote healthcare across northern Australia and the Pacific. Her work and lived experience in the Kimberley, north Queensland and the Solomon Islands inform her understanding of Indigenous ways of life. She has contributed to participatory infection control research in a remote Solomon Islands hospital, health education with the Baru Conservation Alliance and health workforce initiatives in Kowanyama, Cape York. She co-authored the chapter ‘Infection prevention and control in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health’ in an Australian IPC textbook.
Abstract:
Infection prevention and control (IPC) gained prominence during the COVID-19 pandemic, with healthcare services expected to comply with internationally recognised guidelines grounded in Western biomedical approaches. However, maintaining minimum IPC standards remains challenging in many settings, even outside pandemic conditions.
Participatory action research explored how cultural, spiritual and societal practices and beliefs shape understandings of disease causation and transmission, and influence healthcare workers’ IPC practices. The research showed that biomedical education does not necessarily displace other explanations of illness. Germ theory may therefore coexist with beliefs that influence how infection risks and preventive measures are understood and enacted.
This presentation examines these findings and their implications for implementing IPC programs in culturally diverse settings. It highlights the importance of understanding local perspectives rather than assuming that scientific knowledge alone will lead to practice change.
Effective IPC programs need to translate biomedical principles into approaches that are meaningful to staff and communities. Engaging with cultural and spiritual perspectives offers a pathway towards contextually relevant practice. For hospital leaders and healthcare workers, the challenge is to develop IPC approaches that respect diverse understandings of illness while maintaining infection prevention standards, including within culturally diverse healthcare settings.