Purbalingga 29 July 2026 – The Scalable Public Health Empowerment, Research, and Education Sites (SPHERES), Building Trust and Participation for Hepatitis B Serosurveys, funded by PCE Seed Award held the first of a series of community meeting engagement, giving residents of Purbalingga a direct voice in shaping a Hepatitis B serosurvey among children. This project aims to find better ways for communities most affected by Hepatitis B to shape better research design by putting community first.
Building trustworthy in hepatitis care
This initiative builds on SPHERES Project, data-driven initiative to strengthen integrated primary healthcare in Indonesia. In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and local District Health Offices, OUCRU Indonesia has supported efforts to improve primary healthcare delivery, including the prevention of mother-to-child transmission of hepatitis B. Yet community members had limited opportunities to shape how research design activities are implemented.
As community trust in research is essential to improving human health, Building Trust and Participation for Hepatitis B Serosurveys project started its pre-implementation phase: Training of Trainers for Community Participatory Meetings and Community Participatory Meetings, that conducted in Purbalingga and West Lombok. Each meeting brought together community representatives nominated by local Puskesmas to reflect a diverse range of ages, genders, religions, ethnic groups, educational backgrounds, and livelihoods.
Learning together for community-engaged research
Over two days, the team facilitated learning and discussion through a series of interactive activities. Following this, participants engaged in “Myth or Fact” games, problem and solution tree, to explore community knowledge of Hepatitis B, perceptions around blood sampling in children, and the communication channels that families trust most.
“In this session, I learned that being a facilitator requires using language that is easy for participants to understand and being a good listener.” said a health promotion staff.
By putting people and communities at the center of hepatitis B serosurveilance research design, this project aims to:
- Understand community knowledge and perceptions of Hepatitis B
- Understand community concerns about finger-prick blood sampling, particularly among children
- Identify trusted communication channels and community leaders
- Gather recommendations to make the serosurvey acceptable, respectful, and culturally appropriate
- Build trust between the research team and the community
Towards the end of this the meeting participants had learned new skill of principles of community engagement. Participant from District Health Office Purbalingga also learned how to use participatory for facilitation tools as well carry it in professional life.
“This training very useful for me to focus on the message: making sure what we communicate actually reaches the people we’re trying to engage.”
The recommendations gathered through these meetings will directly inform culturally appropriate engagement strategies for the Hepatitis B serosurvey and public awareness campaign, and will contribute to the development of community engagement approaches for future SPHERES health studies.
Key informant:
- Dr. Anuraj Shankar – Principal Investigator (PI) SPHERES Project
- dr. Jusi Febrianto, MPH – Co-PI, Head of District Health Office West Purbalingga
- Erni Suryana, S.Si., MM – Co-PI, Head of District Health Office West Lombok
- dr. Edward Sutanto, MPH – D.Phil Student, Seed Awardee
- Ragil Dien – Asia Regional Coordinator for MESH and PCE Training Lead
- Ris Heskiel Najogi – Senior Social Science Officer
- Nilahadinil Yakin –Field Coordinator (Hepatitis B)
- Nur Ayu Fitriani – Field Coordinator (Hepatitis B)
- Dilla Rossa – District Social Science Officer
- Ainun Permata Shanie – District Social Science Officer
