Hunter Primary Care has created a new health awareness campaign, titled Strong Mob.
The initiative is directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth to encourage young people to visit a clinic once a year for a health check.
The crusade features a series of videos and posters of four key Aboriginal influencers: Kobie Dee, BIRDZ, Naomi Wenitong and Dr Joel Wenitong who are well-established in the Australian Aboriginal hip-hop music scene.
The quartet shares their personal stories in regard to the importance of their health and wellbeing, their connection to country, culture and community.
The Strong Mob campaign was launched across social media sites, such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube, to coincide with NAIDOC Week.
The co-design nature of the project was an opportunity for young Aboriginal community members to collaborate and create a robust promotional movement focused on early intervention and prevention of chronic disease directed at youth culture.
Outcomes of the campaign will aim to increase the numbers of Aboriginal children and youth groups presenting for annual health checks.
“Throughout it all, we have established power and control for Aboriginal youth to guide their communities towards Closing the Gap between indigenous and non-indigenous health inequities,” Hunter Primary Care CEO Brenda Ryan said.
“The organisation is honoured to have both BIRDZ and Kobie Dee appear in the campaign, as the focus of Strong Mob resonated well with their personal values and health and wellbeing journeys.
“As a group, we feel developing a campaign that is created by young Aboriginal people, for young Aboriginal people has allowed us to produce content that resonates with communities and ultimately improve the campaign’s success.”
The four videos and more information can be viewed at www.strongmob.com.au, www.facebook.com/strongmobhealthycommunity, and www.instagram.com/strongmobhealthycommunity
The campaign is funded through the Department of Health, Indigenous Australians Health Program Emerging Priorities grant, which Hunter Primary Care was successfully awarded in 2020.
“Sharing this campaign across your networks will assist in educating young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our communities to take care of their health, now and into the future,” Ms Ryan said.
- By Allie Martinelli
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