Description
The Best ‘In Practice’ Paper Award recognises work authored by frontline practitioners – and this year it went to the team led by Abby Wild and Helen Skouteris at Monash University for their analysis on communicating COVID-19 health information to culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities.
The paper found that partnerships between CALD leaders, communities and government are critical for effective health communication, and that often this requires moving beyond disseminating information to designing tailored solutions.
Ms Wild said the Monash University research team were inspired to undertake the research by the hard lockdown of Melbourne’s Flemington and North Melbourne public housing towers in 2020.
“(These towers) are home to residents of a wide array of cultural and linguistic backgrounds,” she said. “We were inspired by the extraordinary work and insights of CALD community leaders who, alongside frontline work in communities, were doing news interviews, participating in consultative processes and producing reports in order to raise awareness of the disproportionate effects of COVID on CALD communities and call for public health messaging that would more effectively reach these groups.”
The paper was co-developed with community representatives, and Ms Wild says her team were thrilled to have the chance to learn from them and their experiences. “I think one of the most impactful parts of writing this paper was having an opportunity to glimpse the tremendous amount of energy, talent, insight and love that CALD community members have put into protecting and caring for their communities and the broader Australian community.”
Ms Wild went on to say that there are lessons to be learnt from what communities and health departments have achieved in the last 18 months.
“Moving forward, there is the opportunity to build on the relationships and rich partnerships between CALD community leaders and health departments that have been developed during the COVID crisis to embed meaningful and sustainable partnerships.”
The paper found that partnerships between CALD leaders, communities and government are critical for effective health communication, and that often this requires moving beyond disseminating information to designing tailored solutions.
Ms Wild said the Monash University research team were inspired to undertake the research by the hard lockdown of Melbourne’s Flemington and North Melbourne public housing towers in 2020.
“(These towers) are home to residents of a wide array of cultural and linguistic backgrounds,” she said. “We were inspired by the extraordinary work and insights of CALD community leaders who, alongside frontline work in communities, were doing news interviews, participating in consultative processes and producing reports in order to raise awareness of the disproportionate effects of COVID on CALD communities and call for public health messaging that would more effectively reach these groups.”
The paper was co-developed with community representatives, and Ms Wild says her team were thrilled to have the chance to learn from them and their experiences. “I think one of the most impactful parts of writing this paper was having an opportunity to glimpse the tremendous amount of energy, talent, insight and love that CALD community members have put into protecting and caring for their communities and the broader Australian community.”
Ms Wild went on to say that there are lessons to be learnt from what communities and health departments have achieved in the last 18 months.
“Moving forward, there is the opportunity to build on the relationships and rich partnerships between CALD community leaders and health departments that have been developed during the COVID crisis to embed meaningful and sustainable partnerships.”
| Awarded date | 18 Dec 2021 |
|---|---|
| Degree of recognition | National |
| Granting Organisations | Public Health Research and Practice |