Ms Karen Yuen1, Teresa Sheng1
1UNSW, , Australia
SESSION SUMMARY
Meaningful engagement of international students in health messages is crucial for promoting well-being and ensuring that these messages resonate with students from diverse cultural backgrounds. Co-design principles, which involve working collaboratively with students from the planning phase, through design to content creation and evaluation, offer a framework to tailor health communication to the specific needs and preferences of international students. Academic research highlights the effectiveness of co-design in health messaging for this demographic, emphasising the importance of cultural sensitivity and active involvement.
The engagement of diverse student communities from the outside of a campaign or initiative ensures the language, modes of communication and design of activities is targeted to the specific community. Working collaboratively on a project provides opportunity for student ownership as well as the chance to develop practical work-related skills and build relationships outside their areas of study.
Using examples of initiatives from the Student Minds Program, the oral presentation will explore the process and effective use of co-design principles. You will hear first-hand accounts of the process and learn more about the challenges and outcomes achieved through the co-design process.
LEARNING OUTCOMES
Increase participants understanding of co-design approaches and how they can be used to develop targeted health promotion initiatives/ messages.
Learn a model of co-design that can be applied across disciplines.
Learn from the student perspective the benefits and challenges of participating in a co-design process and how these skills can be applied to their future careers.
Biography:
Karen Yuen is an advocate for the health and wellbeing of young people. She is the Senior Project Officer – Mental Health within the Health Promotion Unit at UNSW Sydney. As part of her role, she draws upon her passion and extensive experience as a facilitator, educator and youth worker to work alongside students to develop and implement innovative mental health initiatives.
Teresa Sheng is the Student Minds Program Assistant in the Health Promotion Unit at UNSW Sydney. A fourth-year medical student, she acts as a student representative in mental health, co-designing initiatives to improve student mental health and wellbeing.