Forum news

As you know we are currently planning a significant event for November this year – our inaugural forum: Our health – who decides?

There are a group of 12 Network members who are working together to bring you a thought-provoking, exciting and engaging event. We are committed to delivering an event that is people-focused and that is underpinned by the values of courage, empowerment, shared responsibility and fairness.

Just to give you a taste, here are two presenters who will be part of the forum:

Fran Baum is Professor of Public Health and Director of the Southgate Institute of Health, Society and Equity, and the South Australian Community Health Research Unit, at Flinders University. Professor Baum is a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia, and one of Australia's leading researchers on the social and economic determinants of health. In 2008 she was awarded a prestigious Australian Research Council Federation Fellowship focusing on development of effective government and community responses to social determinants of health inequity and social exclusion. She holds several other national competitive grants investigating aspects of health inequity, and has an extensive teaching career in public health. Professor Baum's numerous publications relate to social determinants of health, including Aboriginal people's health, health inequities, primary health care, health promotion, Healthy Cities, and social capital. Her text book The New Public Health (3rd ed. 2008 OUP) is widely used as a core public health text.

 Dora Marinova is Professor of Sustainability at Curtin University Sustainability Policy (CUSP) Institute (WA). Dora’s involvement and interest in interdisciplinary research started during her PhD studies with the development of a novel method for measuring the effects of R&D investment on economic development. Her background in engineering, mathematics and economics allows her to cross boundaries between social sciences and science research, policy strategies and engineering, demography and community development, university, industry and civil society.

  

To assist your fellow members in their efforts to make this event both memorable and significant we invite you to be involved. There are a number of ways you can participate NOW including:

·         Financial support: Does your organisation have the capacity to contribute some funding toward this event, or to fund a particular aspect of it such as the involvement of an international speaker? If so, we’d like to hear from you. The Network does not have any funding to run this event and therefore we are looking for support from organisations that are able to help out.

·         Ideas for presenters: Do you have ideas for inspirational presenters that you have heard elsewhere and would love to bring to Tasmania to enable others to hear their message (or that you’ve always wanted to hear)? In thinking about this, please align your thoughts with the forum themes as outlined in the attached flier.

·         Tell everyone: Help us promote this event and encourage people to put it in their diaries.

·         Invite someone else: Think about inviting a peer who might not ordinarily think that their work is about health, a neighbour, a politician, your Mum...to come with you to this forum. This event is for everyone who has ever wondered, “Why, despite the vast resources spent on health care, is there still so much ill health and health inequality?”

We look forward to bringing you more news about our progress shortly and also look forward to hearing from you about how you can assist.