Wheeler Lecture on public heath education via social media to be held Wednesday
Today millions of people can be reached instantly through accounts on social networking sites.
At 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Charles V. Park Library Auditorium Eta Sigma Gamma, the health education honorary fraternity will host the "All a Twitter: Using Social Networking to Promote Public Health," the latest event in the Wheeler Lecture series.
“This will be the 18th annual Elizabeth Lockwood Wheeler Lectureship and it is put on to honor the late Dr. Elizabeth Wheeler,” said Hartland senior Kendall Motzell.
Wheeler was the pioneer of Central Michigan University’s public health education program and its first faculty member, Motzell said.
Heather Alberda, Reproductive Health Educator with the Ottawa County Health Department for the past 10 years, will be the guest speaker.
“She focuses on (sexually transmitted infection)/teen pregnancy prevention, as well as providing parents with the power and information to encourage health sexual conversations,” Motzell said.
Alberda will discuss how social networking can be used to grab attention and bring about public health awareness.
“This particular topic, that of using social networking for public health education and awareness, is cutting-edge and fascinating as we try to control our nation’s health problems,” said Professor of Health Sciences Jodi Brookins-Fisher.
The lecture will be free.
“The Wheeler Lecture doesn't just target students from CMU but the entire campus and the Mount Pleasant community,” said President of Eta Sigma Gamma Kaitlyn Hanisko, a Bay City senior.
Hanisko said the community would be able to learn about the public health field.
“I think it's important for people to realize that as public health educators, we need to remain on top of how to best communicate with the people we want to reach and the big way currently is through social media,” Hanisko said.
Alberda will also talk about ways to deal with health issues.
“I hope Ms. Alberda shows students how diverse the methods can be when dealing with the health issues of any particular priority population,” Brookins-Fisher said.
