May 11, 2016

Indigenous health takes over Twittersphere

UOW co-hosts the third annual Indigenous Health May Day on Thursday 12 May.

Advocates for Indigenous health have turned to social media for a national day of action, as UOW co-hosts the third annual Indigenous Health May Day on Thursday 12 May.

Indigenous voices will be showcased across Twitter through the use of #IHMayDay16, with non-Indigenous people encouraged to join in the conversation. Senator Nova Peris and the Hon Ken Wyatt MP are among the list of names confirmed for the Indigenous Health May Day twitter program.

UOW will host a series of community engagement workshops in the lead up to the event, with Australian experts commenting on the topics of Indigenous suicide prevention. Specific workshops will be held to develop skills and capacity in the use of social media for advocacy and community wellbeing.

The event will be hosted by Associate Professor Bronwyn Carlson alongside her colleague Dr Tanja Dreher from the UOW Faculty of Law, Humanities and Arts.

Professor Carlson, an Indigenous woman herself and an advocate for Indigenous health, said the event’s focus on youth and suicide prevention is extremely important, particularly given the high rates of social media use among young Indigenous people.

“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities experience suicide rates that are among the highest in the world,” Professor Carlson said.

“As a tool for action, social media provides us with a forum within and across territorial borders where our voices can be heard and where we can communicate, network, educate, share and challenge.”

#IHMayDay is the brainchild of Dr Lynore Geia from James Cook University, who will be attending this year’s event at UOW.

“For me, it’s about reaching out into national and international arenas, and talking about the issues of Indigenous health in Australia in its holistic sense,” Dr Geia said.

“It’s about collaboration and developing genuine partnerships; it’s about moving forward. It’s so much more than a talkfest – it’s about building communities that want to see positive outcomes for Indigenous people and for our nation more widely.”

Indigenous Health May Day will take place at UOW and in cyberspace from 7am-10pm on Thursday 12 May.