Aims:  

• To understand how social media can be harnessed to enhance the impact of tobacco control strategies among Indigenous Australians.  

Objectives:  

• Smoking causes 1/5 deaths of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Many social media tobacco control campaigns exist, but there is minimal understanding of their effectiveness.

Summary:  

This is a three year project, made up of four studies:

• Study 1: What social media health information is being shared within communities, how and by who?
• Study 2: How can social media be used effectively to reduce smoking and improve health?
• Study 3: How can Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services use social media effectively for reducing smoking?
• Study 4: How can Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services use social media to support people who want to quit smoking?

Working with a team of over 20 Indigenous community based peer researchers from Darwin, Nhulunbuy and Alice Springs we will combine online data collection and analysis with interviews with both users and non-users of social media.

All community based peer researchers are eligible to enroll in the Certificate II in Community Health Research. 

Chief investigators:

• Professor David Thomas
• Associate Professor Marita Hefler

Contact information:

Please email Marita Hefler for further information.

Project dates:

The project commenced in April 2016 and was completed in December 2019.