Louise Hansford is a hepatitis C elimination coordinator working with Hep C U Later, the hepatitis C elimination initiative of the NHS Addictions Provider Alliance in England. Alongside her work across NHS trusts, Louise is a long-standing member of the INHSU community. She has attended INHSU conferences since 2018, joined the Board of Directors three years ago and currently serves as Treasurer.
In this interview, Louise speaks with Matt Bonn, harm reduction knowledge broker for CATIE and fellow member of the INHSU board, about bringing her professional and lived experience to her work, why she felt welcome at INHSU from her very first conference, and the importance of creating spaces where community members, researchers and healthcare professionals can participate as equals.
Matt Bonn:
Tell us about your role, what it is you do, and the work you do within INHSU.
Louise Hansford:
I’m a hepatitis C elimination coordinator working on a national project called Hep C U Later, the hepatitis C elimination initiative of the NHS Addictions Provider Alliance. I’ve been doing that for the last six years, working across eight or nine large NHS trusts throughout England.
I’ve been coming to INHSU since 2018 and have been on the Board of Directors for the last three years. I’ve also been involved in Community Day since 2019 and I’m currently the Treasurer for INHSU.
Some of my work with INHSU has involved mentoring people to submit abstracts and apply for scholarships. Together with Lise Lafferty and others, we also suggested the community and EMCR networking event, which has gone from strength to strength. This year it will bring together EMCRs, nurses and community, which is really exciting.
Matt Bonn:
What is your favourite thing about INHSU?
Louise Hansford:
My favourite thing about INHSU is that it was the first conference I’d ever been to where I felt truly welcomed for who I am, what I am and my lived experience.
I set up a peer-led project back in 2012, before this approach was common, and there was a lot of resistance. People would ask, “What do you mean, we’re getting previous patients involved?” It was a really difficult time. I would go to conferences with really influential researchers, academics and consultants, and the majority of them wouldn’t really give me the time of day.
At my very first INHSU conference, I had conversations with Jason Grebely, Jude Byrne and lots of other people. I felt entirely welcome and part of the community, and respected for both my lived experience and my personal and professional experience.
That’s something I still love about INHSU. Everybody is included, people can get involved and everybody has a voice. There isn’t really a hierarchy, so everybody feels equal.
Community Day in South Africa absolutely blew me away, particularly seeing Armand, who I’d mentored a few years earlier, able to attend the conference. There’s something really special about INHSU. It’s a highlight of my year.
Matt Bonn:
If you were a vegetable, what kind of vegetable would you be and why?
Louise Hansford:
I would be a tomato. I know it’s technically a fruit, but it’s nicer than the potato, which is the other thing I could compare myself to!
There are lots of different tomatoes: cherry tomatoes, plum tomatoes, beef tomatoes, garden tomatoes and many more. I actually use tomatoes to explain genotypes in my hepatitis C work. They’re all tomatoes, but they’re different varieties.
I think my life is like that. I’m somebody in long-term recovery from drug addiction who has lived experience of hepatitis C and interferon treatment. I’m a mother, a daughter, a wife, an employee and a sponsor, and I’ve done a master’s degree. I have lots of different roles, but they’re all different parts of me.
So that’s why I chose a tomato. And obviously, during my addiction, I was chopped tomatoes because I wasn’t able to maintain anything. I was like I’d been in a blender!