Roanna Lobo
Biographic Data
| ID | 1264663 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Roanna Lobo |
| GIVEN NAMES | Roanna |
| FAMILY NAME | Lobo |
| SIGNATURE | LOBO R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Curtin University |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8335-3017 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 26 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 4 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 26 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2010 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
Perceptions of HIV risk amongst heterosexually identifying migrants from Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa living in Australia: Implications for virtual elimination of HIV
Heterosexually identifying migrants in Australia are among populations experiencing increasing HIV notifications, highlighting concerns about low rates of sexual health testing and awareness of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). Utilising in-depth interviews, we explored perceptions of HIV risk among 16 heterosexually identifying migrants from Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Domains of inquiry were HIV risk assessment and ma…
Housing Insecurity and Health Outcomes Among Migrants from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds in High-Income Countries: A Scoping Review
Stable and adequate housing is essential for mental and physical well-being. However, housing insecurity is a growing global issue, particularly affecting migrants. This review synthesizes the available evidence on the determinants and health outcomes associated with housing insecurity among culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) populations living in high-income countries. A scoping review was conducted of literature published in English, …
Fighting tuberculosis hand in hand: A call to engage communities affected by TB as essential partners in research
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease closely intertwined with stigma, discrimination, and the social determinants of health. Communities of people affected by TB are experts in their care pathways, but the TB field continues to fall short of meaningfully engaging communities in TB research. This is a missed opportunity to improve the quality, relevance, person-centeredness, positive impact, and sustainability of TB research outputs. We ackn…
Barriers to Accessing and Providing Primary Care Services for LGBTIQA+ Individuals Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: A Scoping Review
LGBTIQA+ individuals experience intimate partner violence (IPV) more frequently than non-LGBTIQA+ individuals but seek help at lower rates and frequently receive inadequate care from primary care providers. This scoping review identified barriers to accessing and providing primary care services for LGBTIQA+ people experiencing IPV. The review was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews. Three datab…
The Development of a Questionnaire to Assess Research and Evaluation Capacity-Building
This article describes the development of a questionnaire to assess research and evaluation capacity-building support. This support was provided to public health professionals via a capacity-building partnership, the Western Australian Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Applied Research and Evaluation Network (SiREN). Evaluating research and evaluation capacity-building initiatives can be challenging due to their complexity. The development of t…
We’re not for You”: Primary Care Support Seeking Among LGBTIQA + Individuals Experiencing Intimate-Partner Violence in Western Australia
Purpose Experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) among LGBTIQA + individuals often differ from that of non-LGBTIQA + individuals. However, general understandings of IPV tend to reflect the experiences of cisgender heterosexual women. Consequently, LGBTIQA + individuals may encounter barriers to receiving support for IPV from primary care services that are predominantly guided by a heteronormative and cisgendered conceptualization of IPV. Th…
Experiences and Recognition of Intimate Partner Violence among a Community-Sample of LGBTIQA + People in Western Australia
The determinants of psychological distress and wellbeing among people of African descent living in Western Australia: Evidence From a Statewide Health and Wellbeing Survey
Among people of African descent living in WA, psychological distress was associated with disability or long-term illness, and stressful major life events. Emotional wellbeing was associated with marital status, disability or long-term illness, stressful major events and employment status. These findings provide support for tailored mental health initiatives for migrant communities in WA
An Exploration of Satisfaction with Mental Health Counseling Services in Western Australia Among Sexuality and Gender Diverse Youth
Clinically significant psychological distress affects approximately 29.3% of Australian adolescents and 80.6% of sexuality and/or gender diverse youth (SGD-Y). Often, SGD-Y experience inadequate access and lower satisfaction with mental health services, stemming from age- and sexuality and/or gender diversity-status. Accordingly, exploration of factors affecting SGD-Y's access to, and satisfaction with, mental health services is critical. Using a…
Searching for choice and control: Western Australian service provider experiences of health, housing and migration
This research aimed to inform approaches to increase access to secure housing and improve mental health outcomes for migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (hereafter migrants) who are generally invisible in health and social policy and service provision in Western Australia. We used semi-structured, in-depth interviews (n = 11) and interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore service provider experiences and persp…
Developing critical HIV health literacy: Insights from interviews with priority migrant communities in Queensland, Australia
In Australia, surveillance data establish that there are higher rates of late HIV diagnoses among heterosexual migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa and new HIV diagnoses among gay and bisexual men (GBM) from Southeast and Northeast Asia and Latin America. Together, these groups are identified as priority migrant communities in current efforts to eliminate HIV transmissions. HIV health literacy is recognised as a key means of improving access to servi…
HIV-Related Knowledge and Practices among Asian and African Migrants Living in Australia: Results from a Cross-Sectional Survey and Qualitative Study
Australian HIV notification rates are higher for people born in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa compared to Australian-born people. The Migrant Blood-Borne Virus and Sexual Health Survey represents the first attempt to build the national evidence base regarding HIV knowledge, risk behaviors and testing among migrants in Australia. To inform survey development, preliminary qualitative research was conducted with a convenience…
Maybe it’s an Indo thing”: Transnational health experiences of Indonesian women living in Australia
Migrant health-seeking behaviour is understood to be influenced by transnationalism. This paper explores how transnationalism influences health seeking behaviour among Indonesian women living in Perth, Western Australia. Using a participatory action research approach, we conducted five focus groups with 21 women from Indonesia living in Perth. Transnational practices were common amongst Indonesian women. Transnational health-seeking (seeking Indo…
Utilizing Causal Loop Diagramming to Explore a Research and Evaluation Capacity Building Partnership
The capacity to engage in research, evaluation and evidence-informed decision-making supports effective public health policy and practice. Little is known about partnership-based approaches that aim to build capacity across a system or how to evaluate them. This study examines the impacts of a research and evaluation capacity building partnership called the Western Australian Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Applied Research and Evaluation Net…
Lessons learned from the implementation of the Young Deadly Free peer education programme in remote and very remote Australian Aboriginal communities
Past efforts to address endemic rates of sexually transmissible infections amongst young Aboriginal people living in remote/very remote Australian communities have had limited success. Peer education has been used in youth sexual health promotion but has received limited evaluation and has not been tested in remote Aboriginal settings. The Young Deadly Free youth peer education programme trained Aboriginal young people in 15 remote/very remote co…
Strategies for Recruiting Migrants to Participate in a Sexual Health Survey: Methods, Results, and Lessons
In this article, we describe the approaches taken to recruit adult migrants living in Australia for a sexual health and blood-borne virus survey (paper and online) and present data detailing the outcomes of these approaches. The purpose was to offer guidance to redress the under-representation of migrants in public health research. Methods of recruitment included directly contacting people in individual/organizational networks, social media posts…
Exploring the Intersections of Migration, Gender, and Sexual Health with Indonesian Women in Perth, Western Australia
This paper explores the intersections of migration, gender, and sexual health with Indonesian women living in Perth, Western Australia. The study was part of a larger participatory action research project to co-design an intervention to increase HIV testing in migrant Indonesian women. Unstructured interviews were conducted with adult Indonesian women ( n = 10) on their experiences of migration and sexual health. Zimmerman's migration phases (pre…
It is stigma that makes my work dangerous’: Experiences and consequences of disclosure, stigma and discrimination among sex workers in Western Australia
Western Australia criminalises sex work whilst some other Australian jurisdictions have decriminalised the industry. This article examines the role of Western Australia's legislation in reinforcing stigma and discrimination of sex workers. It draws on stigma and discrimination-specific results from open-ended survey responses and interview data collected as part of a larger cross-sectional mixed-methods study. Experiences and/or anticipation of s…
Sex workers as peer researchers – a qualitative investigation of the benefits and challenges
Best practice in sex work research advocates for a 'nothing about us without us' methodology. This study employed sex workers as peer researchers to assist in evaluating the sexual health outcomes and well-being of sex workers in Western Australia. All eight peer researchers were invited to reflect on their experiences as peer researchers through semi-structured interviews, and seven peer researchers participated. Giving sex workers a voice and t…
Stakeholder perceptions of relationships and sexuality education, backlash and health services in a rural town
This paper examines the provision of youth targeted Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) and sexual health interventions in the rural Australian context by examining the perspectives and experiences of a range of community stakeholders. Sixteen participants undertook one-on-one semi structured interviews. Four key themes emerged from the data and included: ‘you’re not going to get the whole town to start thinking about adolescent sexual he…
‘Everyone knows everyone’: Youth perceptions of relationships and sexuality education, condom access and health services in a rural town
Sexual health promotion and Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) are influenced by interrelated social and cultural factors, particularly in a rural setting. This paper reports on findings from interviews with young people when asked about experiences and perspectives accessing RSE and sexual health services in a small rural Australian town. Fifteen young people (16–24 years) participated in semi-structured focus groups and interviews. Dat…
Why I Can’t, Won’t or Don’t Test for HIV: Insights from Australian Migrants Born in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia
People born in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia are overrepresented in HIV notifications in Australia. Just under half of all notifications among people from sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia are diagnosed late. Increased HIV testing among these communities is necessary to ensure early diagnosis, better care and reduce likelihood of HIV onward transmission. Recently, Australia has made new HIV testing methods available: rapid HIV testing…
Characterising the policy influence of peer-based drug user organisations in the context of hepatitis C elimination
Migrant Sexual Health Help-Seeking and Experiences of Stigmatization and Discrimination in Perth, Western Australia: Exploring Barriers and Enablers
Increasing HIV notifications amongst migrant and mobile populations to Australia is a significant public health issue. Generalizations about migrant health needs and delayed or deterred help-seeking behaviors can result from disregarding the variation between and within cultures including factors, such as drivers for migration and country of birth. This study explored barriers and enablers to accessing sexual health services, including experience…
Supporting health promotion practitioners to undertake evaluation for program development
Evaluation of health promotion programs does occur and resources for how to conduct evaluation are readily available to practitioners. For the purposes of program development, multi-level strategies involving multiple stakeholders are required to address the organisational, capacity and translational factors that affect practitioners' ability to undertake adequate evaluation
We’re not for You”: Primary Care Support Seeking Among LGBTIQA + Individuals Experiencing Intimate-Partner Violence in Western Australia
Purpose Experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) among LGBTIQA + individuals often differ from that of non-LGBTIQA + individuals. However, general understandings of IPV tend to reflect the experiences of cisgender heterosexual women. Consequently, LGBTIQA + individuals may encounter barriers to receiving support for IPV from primary care services that are predominantly guided by a heteronormative and cisgendered conceptualization of IPV. Th…
An Exploration of Satisfaction with Mental Health Counseling Services in Western Australia Among Sexuality and Gender Diverse Youth
Clinically significant psychological distress affects approximately 29.3% of Australian adolescents and 80.6% of sexuality and/or gender diverse youth (SGD-Y). Often, SGD-Y experience inadequate access and lower satisfaction with mental health services, stemming from age- and sexuality and/or gender diversity-status. Accordingly, exploration of factors affecting SGD-Y's access to, and satisfaction with, mental health services is critical. Using a…
Maybe it’s an Indo thing”: Transnational health experiences of Indonesian women living in Australia
Migrant health-seeking behaviour is understood to be influenced by transnationalism. This paper explores how transnationalism influences health seeking behaviour among Indonesian women living in Perth, Western Australia. Using a participatory action research approach, we conducted five focus groups with 21 women from Indonesia living in Perth. Transnational practices were common amongst Indonesian women. Transnational health-seeking (seeking Indo…
Evaluating Peer-based Youth Programs: Barriers and Enablers
Peer-based programs are increasingly used by community organisations to support vulnerable youth who are at risk of developing mental health problems. Such programs are as diverse as the populations they support and include: drop-in services; peer education; as well as camps and online discussion forums for hard-to-reach populations that may not access more conventional forms of support, owing to issues of stigma or accessibility (for example, sa…
Evaluating Peer-based Youth Programs: Barriers and Enablers
Peer-based programs are increasingly used by community organisations to support vulnerable youth who are at risk of developing mental health problems. Such programs are as diverse as the populations they support and include: drop-in services; peer education; as well as camps and online discussion forums for hard-to-reach populations that may not access more conventional forms of support, owing to issues of stigma or accessibility (for example, sa…
Supporting health promotion practitioners to undertake evaluation for program development
Evaluation of health promotion programs does occur and resources for how to conduct evaluation are readily available to practitioners. For the purposes of program development, multi-level strategies involving multiple stakeholders are required to address the organisational, capacity and translational factors that affect practitioners' ability to undertake adequate evaluation
Migrant Sexual Health Help-Seeking and Experiences of Stigmatization and Discrimination in Perth, Western Australia: Exploring Barriers and Enablers
Increasing HIV notifications amongst migrant and mobile populations to Australia is a significant public health issue. Generalizations about migrant health needs and delayed or deterred help-seeking behaviors can result from disregarding the variation between and within cultures including factors, such as drivers for migration and country of birth. This study explored barriers and enablers to accessing sexual health services, including experience…
‘Everyone knows everyone’: Youth perceptions of relationships and sexuality education, condom access and health services in a rural town
Sexual health promotion and Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) are influenced by interrelated social and cultural factors, particularly in a rural setting. This paper reports on findings from interviews with young people when asked about experiences and perspectives accessing RSE and sexual health services in a small rural Australian town. Fifteen young people (16–24 years) participated in semi-structured focus groups and interviews. Dat…
Why I Can’t, Won’t or Don’t Test for HIV: Insights from Australian Migrants Born in Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia and Northeast Asia
People born in sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia are overrepresented in HIV notifications in Australia. Just under half of all notifications among people from sub-Saharan Africa and Southeast Asia are diagnosed late. Increased HIV testing among these communities is necessary to ensure early diagnosis, better care and reduce likelihood of HIV onward transmission. Recently, Australia has made new HIV testing methods available: rapid HIV testing…
Characterising the policy influence of peer-based drug user organisations in the context of hepatitis C elimination
Stakeholder perceptions of relationships and sexuality education, backlash and health services in a rural town
This paper examines the provision of youth targeted Relationships and Sexuality Education (RSE) and sexual health interventions in the rural Australian context by examining the perspectives and experiences of a range of community stakeholders. Sixteen participants undertook one-on-one semi structured interviews. Four key themes emerged from the data and included: ‘you’re not going to get the whole town to start thinking about adolescent sexual he…
Sex workers as peer researchers – a qualitative investigation of the benefits and challenges
Best practice in sex work research advocates for a 'nothing about us without us' methodology. This study employed sex workers as peer researchers to assist in evaluating the sexual health outcomes and well-being of sex workers in Western Australia. All eight peer researchers were invited to reflect on their experiences as peer researchers through semi-structured interviews, and seven peer researchers participated. Giving sex workers a voice and t…
Utilizing Causal Loop Diagramming to Explore a Research and Evaluation Capacity Building Partnership
The capacity to engage in research, evaluation and evidence-informed decision-making supports effective public health policy and practice. Little is known about partnership-based approaches that aim to build capacity across a system or how to evaluate them. This study examines the impacts of a research and evaluation capacity building partnership called the Western Australian Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Applied Research and Evaluation Net…
Lessons learned from the implementation of the Young Deadly Free peer education programme in remote and very remote Australian Aboriginal communities
Past efforts to address endemic rates of sexually transmissible infections amongst young Aboriginal people living in remote/very remote Australian communities have had limited success. Peer education has been used in youth sexual health promotion but has received limited evaluation and has not been tested in remote Aboriginal settings. The Young Deadly Free youth peer education programme trained Aboriginal young people in 15 remote/very remote co…
Strategies for Recruiting Migrants to Participate in a Sexual Health Survey: Methods, Results, and Lessons
In this article, we describe the approaches taken to recruit adult migrants living in Australia for a sexual health and blood-borne virus survey (paper and online) and present data detailing the outcomes of these approaches. The purpose was to offer guidance to redress the under-representation of migrants in public health research. Methods of recruitment included directly contacting people in individual/organizational networks, social media posts…
Exploring the Intersections of Migration, Gender, and Sexual Health with Indonesian Women in Perth, Western Australia
This paper explores the intersections of migration, gender, and sexual health with Indonesian women living in Perth, Western Australia. The study was part of a larger participatory action research project to co-design an intervention to increase HIV testing in migrant Indonesian women. Unstructured interviews were conducted with adult Indonesian women ( n = 10) on their experiences of migration and sexual health. Zimmerman's migration phases (pre…
It is stigma that makes my work dangerous’: Experiences and consequences of disclosure, stigma and discrimination among sex workers in Western Australia
Western Australia criminalises sex work whilst some other Australian jurisdictions have decriminalised the industry. This article examines the role of Western Australia's legislation in reinforcing stigma and discrimination of sex workers. It draws on stigma and discrimination-specific results from open-ended survey responses and interview data collected as part of a larger cross-sectional mixed-methods study. Experiences and/or anticipation of s…
HIV-Related Knowledge and Practices among Asian and African Migrants Living in Australia: Results from a Cross-Sectional Survey and Qualitative Study
Australian HIV notification rates are higher for people born in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia and sub-Saharan Africa compared to Australian-born people. The Migrant Blood-Borne Virus and Sexual Health Survey represents the first attempt to build the national evidence base regarding HIV knowledge, risk behaviors and testing among migrants in Australia. To inform survey development, preliminary qualitative research was conducted with a convenience…
Maybe it’s an Indo thing”: Transnational health experiences of Indonesian women living in Australia
Migrant health-seeking behaviour is understood to be influenced by transnationalism. This paper explores how transnationalism influences health seeking behaviour among Indonesian women living in Perth, Western Australia. Using a participatory action research approach, we conducted five focus groups with 21 women from Indonesia living in Perth. Transnational practices were common amongst Indonesian women. Transnational health-seeking (seeking Indo…
Searching for choice and control: Western Australian service provider experiences of health, housing and migration
This research aimed to inform approaches to increase access to secure housing and improve mental health outcomes for migrants from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (hereafter migrants) who are generally invisible in health and social policy and service provision in Western Australia. We used semi-structured, in-depth interviews (n = 11) and interpretative phenomenological analysis to explore service provider experiences and persp…
Developing critical HIV health literacy: Insights from interviews with priority migrant communities in Queensland, Australia
In Australia, surveillance data establish that there are higher rates of late HIV diagnoses among heterosexual migrants from Sub-Saharan Africa and new HIV diagnoses among gay and bisexual men (GBM) from Southeast and Northeast Asia and Latin America. Together, these groups are identified as priority migrant communities in current efforts to eliminate HIV transmissions. HIV health literacy is recognised as a key means of improving access to servi…
Fighting tuberculosis hand in hand: A call to engage communities affected by TB as essential partners in research
Tuberculosis (TB) is an infectious disease closely intertwined with stigma, discrimination, and the social determinants of health. Communities of people affected by TB are experts in their care pathways, but the TB field continues to fall short of meaningfully engaging communities in TB research. This is a missed opportunity to improve the quality, relevance, person-centeredness, positive impact, and sustainability of TB research outputs. We ackn…
Barriers to Accessing and Providing Primary Care Services for LGBTIQA+ Individuals Experiencing Intimate Partner Violence: A Scoping Review
LGBTIQA+ individuals experience intimate partner violence (IPV) more frequently than non-LGBTIQA+ individuals but seek help at lower rates and frequently receive inadequate care from primary care providers. This scoping review identified barriers to accessing and providing primary care services for LGBTIQA+ people experiencing IPV. The review was conducted in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews. Three datab…
The Development of a Questionnaire to Assess Research and Evaluation Capacity-Building
This article describes the development of a questionnaire to assess research and evaluation capacity-building support. This support was provided to public health professionals via a capacity-building partnership, the Western Australian Sexual Health and Blood-borne Virus Applied Research and Evaluation Network (SiREN). Evaluating research and evaluation capacity-building initiatives can be challenging due to their complexity. The development of t…
We’re not for You”: Primary Care Support Seeking Among LGBTIQA + Individuals Experiencing Intimate-Partner Violence in Western Australia
Purpose Experiences of intimate partner violence (IPV) among LGBTIQA + individuals often differ from that of non-LGBTIQA + individuals. However, general understandings of IPV tend to reflect the experiences of cisgender heterosexual women. Consequently, LGBTIQA + individuals may encounter barriers to receiving support for IPV from primary care services that are predominantly guided by a heteronormative and cisgendered conceptualization of IPV. Th…
Experiences and Recognition of Intimate Partner Violence among a Community-Sample of LGBTIQA + People in Western Australia
The determinants of psychological distress and wellbeing among people of African descent living in Western Australia: Evidence From a Statewide Health and Wellbeing Survey
Among people of African descent living in WA, psychological distress was associated with disability or long-term illness, and stressful major life events. Emotional wellbeing was associated with marital status, disability or long-term illness, stressful major events and employment status. These findings provide support for tailored mental health initiatives for migrant communities in WA
An Exploration of Satisfaction with Mental Health Counseling Services in Western Australia Among Sexuality and Gender Diverse Youth
Clinically significant psychological distress affects approximately 29.3% of Australian adolescents and 80.6% of sexuality and/or gender diverse youth (SGD-Y). Often, SGD-Y experience inadequate access and lower satisfaction with mental health services, stemming from age- and sexuality and/or gender diversity-status. Accordingly, exploration of factors affecting SGD-Y's access to, and satisfaction with, mental health services is critical. Using a…
Perceptions of HIV risk amongst heterosexually identifying migrants from Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa living in Australia: Implications for virtual elimination of HIV
Heterosexually identifying migrants in Australia are among populations experiencing increasing HIV notifications, highlighting concerns about low rates of sexual health testing and awareness of Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP). Utilising in-depth interviews, we explored perceptions of HIV risk among 16 heterosexually identifying migrants from Southeast Asia, Northeast Asia, and sub-Saharan Africa. Domains of inquiry were HIV risk assessment and ma…
Medicine (18 works) · Political science (15 works) · Psychology (15 works) · Sociology (12 works) · Nursing (10 works) · Environmental health (9 works) · Public relations (9 works) · Reproductive health (9 works) · Sex work and related issues (9 works) · Population (8 works)