GenWired Mission Statement
GenWired is a global health advocacy initiative developed by three Medical Students at the University of Western Australia in response to the growing concerns of increasing mental illness in both Australian society and the global community. Alarmingly, whilst we see drastic reductions in numerous acute and communicable disease, mental illness remains on the rise and is predicted to become the world greatest disease burden by 2020 (WHO).
We felt that despite WHO’s definition of health as being “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity” , it was a contradiction that Mental health remains absent from the Millennium Development Goals. We cannot hope to further global health, if it remains a stigmatised issue, and furthermore, we are ignoring if not preventing the next generation of young adults from fulfilling their emotional, psychological, social and educational potential should the extreme health disparities surrounding mental illness, access to its services and treatment prevail. We need to question why the accessibility and service provision of mental healthcare remains largely disproportionate to the need for it in society, as well as why funding continues to grossly lack in this area. Is our healthcare system contaminated with prejudiced, outdated perspectives? And if so, how do we go about to instigate change? How can we help to ensure the current teenagers, young adults and children grow up and develop to their maximal potential? We find it easy to regularly critique and discuss racial discrimination, gender inequality or physical disability stigma, and yet mental illness remains taboo.
Among adults, encouragement of an optimistic outlook on life that is linked to a sense of purpose promotes mental health: it provides a sense of control over life outcomes, emotionally fulfilling relationships, and the ability to cope with challenges. Knowing such ideal outcomes are fuelled by the expression of positive emotion, this translates itself into utilising the greatest communication tool of our time to promote a positive outlook regarding mental health – the internet. Thus our initiative entitled “GenWired” was developed to draw analogy to “Generation Y” and the predominant form of communication this demographics utilizes. The name further highlights the fact that despite being more socially networked and ‘linked in’, the population is suffering more than ever from an epidemic of loneliness, miscommunication and subsequently mental illness.
We aim to encourage discussion, eradicate stigma, promote access to help, and educate the public about mental illness and its consequent impact on society and the individual. GenWired aims to provide a voice to mental health advocacy and specifically target young adults and adolescents to partake in advocacy efforts.
Generation Wired 