Do I tweet, post or dance? The role of social media in the meaningful mobilization of health research

May 26, 2023

Speaker

Dr. Skye Barbic, Associate Professor, University of British Columbia

Social media has become mainstream for millions of Canadians seeking information about health services and best practices. It also offers a quick and accessible way for academic scholars and the science-engaged public to share research information and connect with others. Even though many of us use social media to share information about our personal life, we may be unsure how to use social media to share information about our research and work.

In this webinar, Dr. Skye Barbic will describe the role of social media in research practices of scholars in the field of health and the social media platforms commonly used to share information on health services research. Skye will provide a framework to support health researchers to help make decisions about what, where, and how to post. Skye will also provide some recommendations for scholars and health services organizations to consider when sharing and accessing information, and how to evaluate their reach and impact.

After this webinar, the audience will be able to:

  • Understand how to harness the power of social media to share research.
  • Describe how to make decisions about when, where and how to share information on social media.
  • Apply tools to evaluate the reach and impact of social media posts.

Speaker

Dr. Skye Barbic is an associate professor in the faculty of medicine at the University of British Columbia in the department of occupational science and occupational therapy, a Health Research BC 2018 Scholar, and 2019 and 2021 Convening & Collaborating awardee. She is also the head scientist at Foundry, an integrated youth service that provides free and confidential health and social services to youth across BC. Skye has a passion for health systems research and understanding how to use social media to understand the needs of diverse communities, gain feedback on research approaches, and share results as they emerge. In her spare time, Skye enjoys reading and hiking on the north shore trails with her three dogs and driving her kids across the Lower Mainland to hockey games and swim meets. #busymom #doglover #healthservicesresearcher #loveKTConnects

Resources

Upcoming webinar

Date

December 01, 2023

Leveraging arts-based methods in research dissemination: Partnering with community and using film to address HIV stigma

Leveraging arts-based methods such as film can be utilized for research dissemination. In this webinar, Dr. Angela Kaida, Juno Roche, and Azra Bhanji will discuss how they are using their film HIV Made Me Fabulous to help share HIV science to reduce stigma and discrimination.

HIV Made Me Fabulous is a 10-minute film that tells the personal story of Juno Roche, a writer, activist and trans woman, who has been living with HIV for over 25 years. Grounded in HIV science, the film examines issues related to HIV, intersectionality, and sexual health equity, and delivers these themes through embodied storytelling.

 

Learning Objectives

After this webinar, the audience will be able to:

  1. Understand the use of arts-based methods in research dissemination
  2. Understand the methods used to develop a dissemination strategy and measure its reach
  3. Understand the impacts of film as a knowledge translation tool to affect change

 

Speakers

Dr. Angela Kaida is an epidemiologist and community-engaged researcher at Simon Fraser University where she is an SFU distinguished professor in the faculty of health sciences and the former Canada Research Chair in global perspectives on HIV and sexual and reproductive health. She leads a global research program focused on factors and environments that increase vulnerability or protect sexual and reproductive health in the context of HIV. Dr. Kaida works closely with community leaders and decision makers to integrate research evidence into health policy and programming attending to social and gender equity. As of January 2023, she is the scientific director of the CIHR Institute of Gender and Health.

Juno Roche is a writer and campaigner whose work around gender, sexuality, and trans lives has been funded by the likes of the Paul Hamlyn Foundation and described as ‘provocative, cutting edge and innovative’. She studied fine art and philosophy at Brighton and English literature at Sussex and writes for a wide range of publications. She has authored five books: Queer Sex, Trans Power, Gender Explorers, A Working-Class Family Ages Badly, and Roam: the search for happiness.

Azra Bhanji is a recent master of public health graduate from Simon Fraser University. She is currently the research co-ordinator for the short film HIV Made Me Fabulous. Azra also co-ordinates the Life and Love with HIV digital storytelling platform that shares experiences, disseminates scientific evidence and offers support for health and wellbeing among women living with HIV. She also has experience planning, organizing and implementing HIV and youth related programming in Kenya.