#IHMayDay: tweeting for empowerment and social and emotional wellbeing

Melissa Sweet; Lynore Geia; Pat Dudgeon; Kerry McCallum

doi:10.1177/1039856215609762

#IHMayDay: tweeting for empowerment and social and emotional wellbeing

Australas Psychiatry. 2015 Dec;23(6):636-40. doi: 10.1177/1039856215609762. Epub 2015 Oct 20.

Authors

Melissa Sweet¹, Lynore Geia², Pat Dudgeon³, Kerry McCallum⁴

Affiliations

¹ PhD candidate, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra, Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Sydney School of Public Health, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW, Australia melissa@sweetcommunication.com.au.
² Senior Lecturer, CNMR Indigenous Futures Research Lead, Nursing, Midwifery & Nutrition, College of Healthcare Sciences, Division of Tropical Health and Medicine, James Cook University, Townsville, QLD, Australia.
³ Professor, School of Indigenous Studies, The University of Western Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.
⁴ Associate Professor, News and Media Research Centre, Faculty of Arts and Design, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT, Australia.

PMID: 26487324
DOI: 10.1177/1039856215609762

Abstract

Objective: This paper examines the themes of #IHMayDay, a day-long Twitter discussion about Indigenous health led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on 1 May 2014.

Method: The Symplur analytics tool was used to identify the Twitter activity associated with #IHMayDay. This paper reviews the content of 423 tweets that were tweeted and retweeted by 346 individuals and 108 organisations.

Results: Issues related to social and emotional wellbeing were dominant, and the analysis highlights the empowering nature of the strengths-based discourse.

Conclusions: Twitter-based events such as #IHMayDay and initiatives such as the rotated, curated account @IndigenousX are powerful platforms for learning, exchange, advocacy and dialogue about the social and emotional wellbeing and mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Keywords: Indigenous health; Twitter; decolonising; innovation; social and emotional wellbeing.

MeSH terms

Australia
Computer Communication Networks / organization & administration*
Health Services, Indigenous / organization & administration*
Humans
Mental Health / ethnology*
Native Hawaiian or Other Pacific Islander / psychology*
Social Determinants of Health
Social Support