@WePublicHealth: Citizen journalism meets public health
@WePublicHealth tests the use of a rotated curated Twitter account as a new model for citizen journalism with a public health focus.
Every week, a different person – including community members and public health professionals – is asked to tweet-report and investigate public health matters.
Their focus might be local – for example, documenting the cost of fresh foods in remote communities via tweet-photos – national or global (for example, reporting from international conferences and events).
They might use the account to share a photographic or film-based investigation, or to share links to related resources and research, for example. Or they might convene Twitter chats or interviews around particular topics, events or hashtags.
One of the goals is to encourage creative use of Twitter for public interest discussions and investigations.
Information for @WePublicHealth applicants and tweeters
1. The @WePublicHealth project aims to encourage public health investigations and reporting of events and issues that are likely to be of interest or use to Croakey readers. We ask that you consider how you can use the week to provide a service to the account’s followers.
2. If you are interested in a stint on @WePublicHealth, please get in touch with a note about what you’d like to cover. Send a short bio and the topic or event that you would like to cover. The account is not available to those working for Coca-Cola et al.
3. The @WePublicHealth tweets are displayed on the Croakey home page. Please be aware of this, and maintain a respectful, civil tone in your tweets and discussions. Do not tweet anything you would not want to see on Croakey’s home page.
4. This account is not to be used for personal attacks. As the guests have control over the account, they are legally responsible for their tweets. Croakey does not accept responsibility if guest tweeters publish defamatory comments.
@WePublicHealth is inspired by the work of Luke Pearson with @IndigenousX (as previously profiled at Croakey, here and here), and Sarah Stokely who curates @WeMelbourne and @WeTasmania.
@WePublicHealth archives
2018
8 October
This week, a tag-team from the Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Association or @AusHealthcare is reporting the news from the #IHFBrisbane2018 World Hospital Congress, where there will be over 150 speakers from more than 30 countries, who will share their views and experiences on healthcare. See the program.
1 October
Aimee Brownbill – @AimeeBrownbill – reflected on the recent PHAA conference, with a focus on emerging leaders. She is a PhD candidate with the University of Adelaide School of Public Health, where her current research is on the topic of sugary beverages. Her research explores the marketing techniques used by beverage companies to drive sales of these products. In particular, Aimee’s research explores how the portrayal of sugary drinks as healthy, or as better-for-you, influences consumer perceptions and consumption of these products. Through her research, Aimee hopes to inform public health interventions and policies that aim to reduce population consumption of sugary beverages. Aimee is an active member of the Australian public health community. She is currently on the Board of the Public Health Association of Australia and the South Australian Branch’s Executive Committee. Follow Public Health Association of Australia, Students and Young Professionals in Public Health – @PHAA_SYPPH.
24 September
Brenna Bernardino – @brennabernardin – covered the 2018 Australian Public Health Conference in Cairns, whose theme was “Leadership in public health: Challenges for local and planetary communities” – #AustPH2018. Brenna’s cultural background is Timorese, Portuguese and Torres Strait Islander. She has a Bachelor of Arts (Psychology/Spanish) and Master of Public Health. Her research interests include Indigenous and sexual health, and she hopes to pursue a PhD on the topic of reproductive justice in Australia. Brenna is currently working as a research assistant for the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, QLD. In October, she will commence an internship with the First People’s Health Unit at Griffith University, Gold Coast. She has also set up the UQ Stories for Reconciliation group to encourage others to read, watch and listen to Indigenous stories. Brenna also tweets for @PHAA_QLDbranch.
17 September
Croakey editor and journalist Amy Coopes – @coopesdetat – tweeted from the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists’ Annual Scientific Meeting, for the Croakey Conference News Service. The conference brings together eminent global and Trans-Tasman thinkers to discuss the latest advances and opportunities in women’s sexual and reproductive health. Themed ‘Shifting Sands’, #ranzcog18 aimed to showcase the diversity and breadth of the specialty. Bookmark this link to follow Croakey’s coverage.
10 September
Dr Paul Lawton – @pauldlawton – is a kidney specialist who has been working as a clinician across the Northern Territory since 1999, including four years as Director of Northern Territory Renal Services. In his research, he addresses questions about kidney disease care disparities and outcomes among Indigenous Australians, using larger already existing datasets, including some data linkage. How can we do better for disadvantaged populations, and why aren’t we?
Dr Lawton also works clinically as a kidney specialist in Darwin, including at Aboriginal Medical Services. His main clinical interests are chronic kidney disease (particularly in Indigenous Australians) and the management of complex conditions in remote and disadvantaged environments.
From Monday 10th to Wednesday 12th September, he tweeted from Sydney at the annual meeting of the Australian & New Zealand Society of Nephrology (#anzsn2018). Yes, Indigenous health (his main interest), but all things kidney too!
3 September
The Australian College of Nurse Practitioners (ACNP) @acnp_national profiled their national campaign ‘Transforming Health Care’ @transformingHC, which aims to connect both the community and the health sector with the valuable offering Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are providing to improve healthcare across Australia. For more information, see here.
27 August
Krister Partel (@KristerPartel), director of advocacy at the Australian Healthcare & Hospitals Association or @AusHealthcare, previewed the news from the forthcoming #IHFBrisbane2018 World Hospital Congress, where there will be over 150 speakers from more than 30 countries, who will share their views and experiences on healthcare. For more details – http://ow.ly/G1NJ30lpuYt
20 August
The Australian Health Promotion Association – @AHPA_AU – shared the news from its Symposium in Canberra, with the theme: Better Practice – Better Placed: #AHPA2018.
13 August
The @CroakeyNews team re-tweeted news from the #EcoHealth2018 conference in Colombia. The conference organisers state: “Ecohealth is about understanding the connections between environment, society and health. This approach goes beyond the usual analysis of relationships between biological and physical components of ecosystems and human populations, by including systems thinking and the analysis of the political dimensions of these complex problems with transdisciplinary teams. In particular, the overall theme of the next Ecohealth 2018 Congress is Environmental and Health Equity: Connecting local alternatives in a global World. This theme emphasizes the need to connect local initiatives in a world with global drivers that threaten healthy ecosystems and populations, and makes a call to tackle these forces and pursue justice.” Ecohealth 2018 is co-hosted by the Universidad del Valle in Cali Colombia. Professor Kerry Arabena gave a presentation during the conference on the #JustClimate project.
6 August
Run by the GroundSwell Project (@GroundSwellAus), Dying To Know Day brings to life conversations and community actions around death, dying and bereavement. Held August 8th every year, it is a national day for talking about death and dying. D2KDay helps to develop death literacy – the practical know how needed for end of life planning. Hundreds of events are held by communities across Australia each year including more than 130 in 2018. The Groundswell Project’s vision is that when someone is dying, caring or grieving, we all know what to do. In Australia only 36 percent of people are discussing death and dying with their family, and 51 percent of us will die without a will. GroundSwell Project believe it’s time to get end of life conversations started. Across the week, the GroundSwell Project will share, the latest info and research about death literacy, loads of great resources and tools, info for health care professionals and community members and ideas to get people talking about death and dying. Plus on Tuesday the the 7th, we will host a Twitter Chat with #D2KDay co-founder Kerrie Noonan (@KezNoo), a clinical psychologist in palliative care who has worked in health and community settings as a community development social researcher. She’ll be discussing death, dying, death literacy, palliative care and much more!
30 July
Cancer Council NSW – @CCNewSouthWales – has launched its pre-election advocacy campaign, Saving Life 2019, which calls on the next NSW government to protect the community from tobacco, tackle childhood obesity, and support people with lymphoedema. This week, the team at Cancer Council NSW will be focusing on why tobacco control should be a priority of the next NSW Government and what needs to be done to reduce the cancer risk in our community.
23 July
Melbourne City Mission – @MelbCityMission – is a progressive, for purpose organisation with a diverse service platform encompassing early years, education and employment, homelessness and justice services, early childhood intervention and disability services, and palliative care services. We have been at the forefront of social innovation for more than 160 years, developing new solutions to complex issues at an individual level and at a societal and structural level. Our vision is to create a fair and just community where people have equal access to opportunities and resources.
Each day, we focused on a different issue eg. youth homelessness, education, gender equality. On Wednesday next week, our youth action group (young people passionate about social issues affecting young people in Melbourne) will be co-creating content with us. We will be focusing on the drivers, enablers and solutions to complex social and public health issues. 
16 July
Josh Cubillo @jcubillo was in the chair. He is a proud descendant of the Larrakia and Wadjigan clans in the NT, and currently lives and works on the traditional lands of the Wurundjeri People @UniMelbMDHS.
9 July
The @CroakeyNews team re-tweeted #NAIDOC2018 and #BecauseOfHerWeCan. For more information about NAIDOC Week, see here. Read the Croakey story: A glorious celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, long may it continue.
Dr Chelsea Bond from the University of Queensland paid a personal tribute to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s leadership in the academy; see her Twitter thread here.
Roxy Moore from National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) paid tribute to women on the frontline of activism; read her Twitter thread here.
2 July
Dr Kimberley Ivory – @kaydeeye – spent 2017 working in Mongolia as Health Advisor to the LGBT Centre Mongolia as an Australian Volunteers for International Development. She is senior lecturer in population medicine in the School of Public Health, University of Sydney. She researches and teaches on cultural diversity and the health impacts of stigma and discrimination, especially with regard to minority populations. She is back in Ulaanbaatar to tweet from the inaugural Rights4Health Conference, a multi-disciplinary health and human rights conference organized by the LGBT Centre and funded by the Australian Embassy in Mongolia. Rights4Health 2018 looks at human rights as positive social determinants of health for LGBTI people and other minority populations, addressing the UNs’ Sustainable Development Goals theme of “leave no-one behind”. Follow #Rights4Health2018.
25 June
Angela Wilson – @ange_wilson – is the Communications and Marketing Coordinator for the Multiple Sclerosis Flagship Program at @ResearchMenzies. She tweeted about MS research & advancements at the Menzies Institute. 
18 June
Adjunct Professor Lucie Rychetnik – @LucieRychetnik – who is based in Geneva, Switzerland, and involved in development and strategy for @GCHAlliance, shared reflections, resources and reading on climate and health issues. Studying #climatechange / Carbon Management via @GeosciencesEd. 
11 June
Professor Dennis McDermott – @redshoeclick – is the Director of Flinders University’s two Poche Centres for Indigenous Health and Well-Being (Adelaide and Northern Territory). Dennis is a psychologist, academic and poet. A Koori man, his mother’s family are from Gadigal land (inner Sydney) with connections to Gamilaroi country (north-west NSW). Dennis’s teaching and research interests encompass early childhood, social determinants of Indigenous health, racism, incarceration, policy, equity, Indigenous social, spiritual and emotional well-being, workforce development, Indigenous health pedagogy, and the nexus of culture and context in service delivery. In 2014 he was awarded a National Senior Teaching Fellowship by the Australian Government’s Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT).
SEVEN DAYS
Let’s talk Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health this week
Monday
A portal: the “living, breathing side” of the social determinants of health. Eh?
One (good) starting point: embracing complexity
Tuesday
Now, let’s talk the Indigenous Australian social determinants of health – what do they add and how, and why such impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health?
Wednesday
Responding to the challenges of lifting health and well-being No.1: Building a culturally-safe workforce
Thursday
Responding to the challenges of lifting health and well-being No.2: Having the hard conversations – talking racism, systemic discrimination and unconscious bias
Friday
Let’s talk strengths No. 1: resilience (redefined) and health
Saturday
Let’s talk strengths No. 2: Indigenous knowledges and health
Sunday
Let’s talk strengths No. 3: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art / dance / music / prose / poetry … what’re they to do with health?
4 June
El Gibbs is a past winner of the Gavin Mooney Memorial Essay Competition and a writer about disability and other social issues, including the #CripCroakey series for Croakey. She’s the Manager, Media and Campaigns at People with Disability Australia and a proud disabled person.
El talked about the NDIS, disability and health, poverty and other social determinants of health affecting people with disability, barriers to healthcare, ethical research, and the strengths and expertise of people with disability. 
28 May
This week, Dr Chelsea Bond – @drcbond – and the Poche Centre for Indigenous Health at The University of Queensland – @UQPoche – covered #IHMayDay18 and more. Dr Bond is an Aboriginal (Munanjahli) and South Sea Islander Australian and a Senior Lecturer with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit. Dr Bond has worked as an Aboriginal Health Worker and researcher in communities across south-east Queensland for the past 20 years and has a strong interest in urban Indigenous health promotion, culture, identity and community development. Her career has focused on interpreting and privileging Indigenous experiences of the health system including critically examining the role of Aboriginal health workers, the narratives of Indigeneity produced within public health, and advocating for strength based community development approaches to Indigenous health promotion practice. Her PhD research which examined the disjuncture between Indigenous and public health narratives of identity in an urban Aboriginal community was awarded a Dean’s Commendation for Academic Excellence placing her among the top 10% of her graduating year. Dr Bond has published a number of papers in relationship to strength-based health promotion practice, Indigenous social capital, and the conceptualization of Aboriginality within public health. Dr Bond is an Australian Learning and Teaching Fellow examining how Indigenous educators within Australian higher educational institutions create culturally safe teaching and learning environments.
Dr Bond is a board member of Inala Wangarra (an Indigenous community development association), and Screen Queensland, an affiliate member of UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health Research and regular guest host of 98.9FM’s Let’s Talk program.
21 May
Summer May Finlay, a Yorta Yorta woman, PhD candidate, and contributing editor at Croakey, tweeted from Geneva, covering the launch of the World Federation of Public Health Associations (WFPHA) first Indigenous Working Group and the World Health Assembly. The working group’s Co-Chairs are Adjunct Associate Professor Carmen Parter from Australia and Adrian Te Patu from New Zealand, together with Emma Rawson and Finlay as Co-Vice Chairs. Read more in this Croakey article.
14 May
The Lowitja Institute – @LowitjaInstitut – covered the #ResearchIntoPolicy forum in Canberra. This was described as “a conversation with researchers, policy makers, and stakeholders from across the health sector about research projects driven by the priorities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities”. The forum featured presentations on three Lowitja Institute funded projects, and discussed how decision makers can translate the findings into effective policy for the health and wellbeing of First Peoples. Read reports on the forum by Dr Megan Williams for the Croakey Conference News Service.
7 May
Croakey contributing editor Dr Lesley Russell – @LRussellWolpe – covered #HealthBudget18, sharing news and analysis.
30 April
Christina Watts – @WattsChrissy90 – shared some of the latest news and research in #TobaccoControl. She is an advocate and researcher, a MPhil candidate at the University of Sydney, and Tobacco Control Project Coordinator at @CCNewSouthWales. Also see this article she co-authored for Croakey about how tobacco companies are using Twitter.
23 April
Croakey editor Dr Ruth Armstrong – @DrRuthAtLarge – was on the road as OutsiderInsideUSA, posting public health and other observations, and pictures as she travelled.
16 April
This week, @DrMelStoneham covered the launch of the Pilbara edition of WA Indigenous Storybook, even travelling 40 kms one morning to get internet access to post amazing photographs of the stunning landscape. You can access the storybook here: https://www.phaiwa.org.au/indigenous-storybook/
9 April
This week, Croakey editor and conference reporter Jennifer Doggett covered the 6th Rural and Remote Health Scientific Symposium in Canberra – read her stories here.
26 March and 2 April
With it being two short working weeks due to Easter, @3DN_UNSW took the reins for two weeks – to cover a National Roundtable on the Mental Health of People with Intellectual Disability, hosted by UNSW Sydney, which brought together more than 100 key experts from the health and disability sectors to lead national and state action on improving the mental health of people with intellectual disability. The event was organised by the UNSW’s Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry, NSW Council for Intellectual Disability (NSW CID) and the NHMRC Partnerships for Better Health team. As well as covering the #IDMHRT18 meeting, the guest tweeters shared a wealth of resources, as was also covered in this Croakey article.
The Department of Developmental Disability Neuropsychiatry (3DN) was established by the Chair of Intellectual Disability Mental Health, Professor Julian Trollor, in 2009. The Chair is funded by Ageing Disability and Home Care, Family and Community Services NSW and the Mental Health Branch, NSW Ministry of Health. 3DN is part of the School of Psychiatry within UNSW Medicine, and champions the right of people with an intellectual or developmental disability to the same level of health and mental health care as the rest of the population. We promote a standard of excellence in clinical practice, research, workforce development, education and policy in the field of intellectual and developmental disability mental health.
19 March
Margaret Faux – @MargaretFaux – is a lawyer, the founder and CEO of one of the largest medical billing companies in Australia, a registered nurse, and a PhD Candidate at the University of Technology Sydney. Margaret’s doctorate is examining medical practitioner claiming and compliance under Australia’s Medicare Benefits Schedule. Margaret has been involved in medical billing for over 30 years and is passionate about well-functioning health financing systems which underpin effective universal health coverage.
12 March
Dr Marita Hefler (@m_hef), Co-Coordinator and Lecturer for the Menzies Master of Public Health unit Qualitative Research Methods and News Editor for the BMJ specialist publication Tobacco Control, is covering the latest news in tobacco control and public health, including reflections from the recent #WCTCoH2018 in South Africa. Marita joined the Menzies tobacco control research team in 2013. Her current research interests are the use of social media to enhance tobacco control, and smoke free prisons policy. She has published on use of social media for tobacco control advocacy, and been a resource expert for social media in tobacco control for a range of international workshops. Marita has a particular interest in tobacco control approaches for socioeconomically disadvantaged populations; her PhD examined the smoking trajectories of highly marginalised young people. She also has a background in program evaluation, and has led a number of evaluations of public health programs in Australia and internationally.
5 March
Krister Partel — @kristerpartel & @aushealthcare — Australian Healthcare and Hospitals Association (AHHA) Advocacy Director tweeted about healthcare systems thinking and how we can evolve our public healthcare system to meet 21st century demands. On 7 March, Krister reported from AHHA’s health sector town hall #AHHABlueprint seeking the sector’s input into the development of case study exemplars highlighting system innovation and best practice to be used to support AHHA’s advocacy on the implementation of the recommendations found in, Healthy people, healthy systems. Strategies for outcomes-focused and value-based healthcare: a blueprint for a post-2020 national health agreement.
26 February
TasCOSS, the peak body of the Tasmanian community services sector. – @TasCOSS – covered health and social issues in the lead up to the Tasmanian election.
19 February
Aimee Brownbill, a PhD candidate with the School of Public Health at the University of Adelaide, profiled some of the key health issues facing South Australian voters in the lead up to the State election on 17 March. Follow her on @AimeeBrownbill.
12 February
Associate Professor Samantha Thomas from Deakin University – @Doc_Samantha – reported from the 7th International Gambling Conference, Auckland, NZ.
5 February
The Social Action and Research Centre – @SARC_Anglicare – sits within Anglicare Tasmania and for over 20 years has worked to create positive political, social and cultural change to bring about a just Tasmania. From a foundation of social justice, SARC undertakes social research, policy development, advocacy and community engagement. We seek to influence and shape the systemic framework that impacts on the lives of low income and vulnerable Tasmanians – public policy, legislation, programs, practice and public discourse.
With the Tasmanian state election falling on March 3 this year, SARC is engaged in advocacy on three main areas: housing affordability, vulnerable children, and removing poker machines from the state’s pubs and clubs. The issue of pokies has shaped up to be one of the key election issues for 2018 and is a long-standing priority for SARC. During this week as guest twitter host, SARC shared much of its own research and material on these three areas, as well as other relevant articles, research, and pieces of interest.
29 January
Dr Kalinda Griffiths – @Klick22 – is a Wingara Mura Leadership Program Fellow with the Sydney Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics at the University of Sydney. She is an epidemiologist who received her undergraduate degree in biomedical science and master’s degree in public health from Charles Darwin University, and recently received her PhD in cancer epidemiology from the University of Sydney. She is also an honorary research fellow at Menzies School of Health Research, and a Deputy Editor of the Health Promotion Journal of Australia. As an early career researcher, Kalinda has made contributions in cancer epidemiology, social epidemiology, analysis of linked data, and laboratory science. Her core interest is in better understanding complex health inequities through the use of data, particularly big data and linked data. Kalinda was the Northern Territory Young Australian of the Year in 2011 for her contributions to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. Kalinda will share some of the work that is being undertaken at the Sydney Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Statistics and any other public health news that might be of interest.
22 January
The Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association (AIPA) – @AipaAust – provides leadership on wellbeing and mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. AIPA is committed to improving the social and emotional well-being and mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples by leading the change required to deliver equitable, accessible, sustainable, timely and culturally competent psychological care which respects and promotes their cultural integrity. Furthermore, AIPA is committed to supporting and formally representing the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists and students, supporting Indigenous psychologists through undergraduate and post graduate courses, working toward achieving equity within the profession and developing and delivering professional development activities which aim to increase the cultural competence of the mental health workforce, service delivery and the mental health system overall. By maintaining a high standard of practice and engaging in Indigenous psychological research, AIPA is committed to being on the forefront of Indigenous psychology in Australia.
As well as offering leadership, professional support, mentoring and networking for Indigenous psychologists, AIPA has identified the following ten priorities for action:
- Establish a fully funded AIPA secretariat
- Deliver cultural competence training
- Work toward Indigenising psychological curriculum in universities
- Work toward increasing the number of Indigenous psychologists
- Provide mentoring and professional support for AIPA members
- Expand and nurture AIPA membership
- Develop new paradigms in Indigenous psychology
- Provide input into social and emotional wellbeing and mental health policy
- Provide pathways for Indigenous people to enter psychology
- Develop and implement a research agenda for AIPA.
AIPA aims to provide leadership to achieve equitable participation of Indigenous people within psychology. Currently there are 81 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander psychologists in Australia, representing .4% of the profession (instead of 2.5%). Psychology needs to increase the number of Indigenous graduates ten-fold to achieve parity.
15 January
Gideon Meyerowitz-Katz – @GidMK – was in the chair. An epidemiologist working in chronic disease in Sydney’s west, he was announced last month as winner of the 2017 Gavin Mooney Memorial Essay competition. He discussed some of his plans for his forthcoming essay, Health Behind Bars: It’s Criminal, which will examine the neglected issue of prisoner health, and will be published jointly in 2018 by Croakey and Inside Story. He also discussed his work in diabetes in western Sydney.
8 January
This week, Melinda Edmunds – @Melinda_Edmunds – and Gemma Crawford – @gemmacrawford – kicked off the @WePublicHealth year with a look at some of the health promotion issues for 2018.
Melinda has over seven years’ experience as a health promotion practitioner. Melinda worked in the not-for-profit sector for six years working on state-wide injury prevention, sector development, and healthy lifestyle programs. She is currently Senior Coordinator at PHAIWA where she manages capacity building and professional development projects, conducts research to support public health advocacy activities and works in partnership with a range of organisations to ensure good public health advocacy outcomes. Melinda is a Director on the Australian Health Promotion Association (AHPA) Board and the immediate past President AHPA (WA Branch).
Gemma has more than 15 years of experience in the practice, advocacy, teaching and research of health promotion and public health. She is currently Course Coordinator for postgraduate health promotion and public health programs and an Academic with the Collaboration for Evidence Research and Impact in Public Health in the School of Public Health at Curtin University. A proud pracademic, her practice and research experience spans injury prevention, physical activity, youth health and peer education, capacity building and workforce investment, political support for health promotion and prevention, knowledge translation, ethics and research impact, alcohol and other drugs, mental health, sexual health and BBVs. Gemma is the national president of the Australian Health Promotion Association and Director of FoxPollardConsulting, and is in what she hopes are the final stages of a very long PhD.
