HITnet: harnessing cutting-edge technology and intercultural communication to co-create the knowledge required to build vibrant healthy communities  — Agentur Pty Ltd

HITnet: harnessing cutting-edge technology and intercultural communication to co-create the knowledge required to build vibrant healthy communities  (151)

Helen J Travers 1 , Julie Gibson 1
  1. HITnet Innovations, Cairns, QLD, Australia

Background:

Digital inclusion and democratic access to culturally appropriate health information are crucial to improving social and health outcomes for Indigenous Australians.

Where many organisations have been focused only on utility in terms of digital inclusion – development of communications infrastructure and the provision of hardware to promote inclusion – HITnet asserts that communities are not disadvantaged merely due to their inability to consume information, but more importantly due to their inability to participate in its creation. 

HITnet’s approach recognises that a community that actively participates in the process of identifying and resolving its ongoing challenges, maintains its sovereignty and becomes empowered, even while it may remain remote.

Methods:

One such community in Cape York recently partnered in the production of an educational video addressing specific mental health priorities. The projectaddressed the vulnerabilities of disengaged youth by building resilience skills through intergenerational and peer participation processes.

Hosted by local organisations, supported by government agencies and targeting young people, it focused on providing the understanding and skills required for them to support their peers in dealing with the pressures of substance use.

Framed around community-based media production and social representation, a five-day workshop integrating mental health education, young people’s knowledge and creativity, and hiphop music was held.  Activities were built on value systems and culture to deliver the ‘life promotion’ music video, Here we go.

HITnet documented the workshop process on video, collecting voxpops to capture changes in mental health literacy, digital inclusion, social inclusion and self-esteem.

Results/Discussions:

 Here we go, has been viewed 14,000 times on YouTube, and 1,500 times on the local Community Hub since December 2013 and will soon be distributed across the national network of 60 HITnet Hubs for young people in other communities to view.

Conclusions/implications:

Grassroots knowledge creation is enabled by smart digital ecosystems, extending reach and social health benefits.

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