Event Report: SocioHealthLab 2nd Unconference
Health Sociology Thematic Group Co-Conveners: Zhaoxi Zheng, Laetitia Coles & Miriam Dillon
The Health Sociology thematic group at The Australian Sociological Association [TASA] and SocioHealthLab hosted an unconference on 15th May 2024. Bringing together diverse perspectives and stakeholders in health, the unconference explored emerging ways of conceptualising and practising social research in health.
This free, one-day, hybrid event featured 19 contributions from 33 multidisciplinary researchers, health/care consumers, health/care industry professionals, and creative artists from Australia, Canada, UK, and Japan. This included 1) two panel discussions with a) health consumers and b) health community and industry professionals, 2) one creative art workshop, and 3) 16 academic presentations on a wide range of intersecting topics and themes in social research in health. The unconference utilised Zoom to complement a Padlet site – employed as the official unconference platform for participants to access unconference material, exchange resources, and connect and collaborate during and after the unconference. Unconference recordings can also be found on the Padlet site.
The unconference started with a Welcome to Country session by Uncle Billy Cummings, an Aboriginal Elder who has a strong spiritual connection to Country. This was followed by a panel discussion with health consumers who shared their experiences and reflections of their engagement with health research(ers) and healthcare systems, chaired by Miriam Dillon. The session discussed the important role of consumers in research, challenges experienced by consumers in research and healthcare contexts and opportunities to include and support consumers within research.
The unconference featured a creative art workshop led by Ruby Herrenberg and Nicole Crosswell. Centring around the theme ‘identity’, Ruby, Nicole, and attendees collaboratively explored and reflected on what matters to them in everyday lives and professional lives. Ruby’s artwork can be found here and Nicole’s art studio – where she works with and supports young artists with disability – is available here.
The afternoon sessions started with a panel discussion of community and industry health practitioners on their experiences and reflections of health research and practices. Chaired by Stefa Plage, the panel discussed opportunities and challenges in conducting health research in collaboration with community members. Topics discussed included the benefits and challenges to the success of collaborating across sectors and disciplines, ways of addressing such challenges, and key priorities for collaborations and partnerships now and in the future.
The conference also featured other academic presentations on a diverse range of topics. The topics centred around theoretical and empirical innovations in knowing, being, and doing health. Notable contributions included art-based approaches to holistic wellness, reconceptualising physical and mental health diagnoses and practices, alternative understandings of well-being, multidisciplinary engagements in health practices, and more-than-human networks in health and illness. The presentations invited vibrant online and in-person discussions and engagement throughout the day, both during and after the sessions.
TASA's Health Sociology thematic group co-convenors (Zhaoxi Zheng, Miriam Dillon, and Laetitia Coles) and SocioHealthLab Directors (Stefa Plage, Zhaoxi Zheng, Rebecca Olson, Karime Mescuoto, and Sameera Suleman) thank TASA for their generous support in making the event possible. We also acknowledge the financial and administrative support we received from The University of Queensland School of Social Science.