Dr Erin Walsh: ’To make a useful book, it is important to get the visuals and the story right. This is why we need help from educators and parents, who know these kids best.’
Dr Erin Walsh: 'To make a useful book, it is important to get the visuals and the story right. This is why we need help from educators and parents, who know these kids best.' - Parents, carers and educators of children aged six to12 years are being asked to help produce a children's story book about bushfire smoke and health. Researchers from The Australian National University (ANU) are calling on adults whose primary language is English, Turkish, Arabic or Persian to contribute to the book, so children can better understand bushfires. "People who have experienced the last bushfire season with children have a story to tell. We want to hear it and shape it into a story we can share with everyone," Professor Sotiris Vardoulakis, from the ANU Research School of Population Health, said. "Last summer was a whole new world for children. Parents may have been stressed, people were wearing face masks and young people couldn't go out to play. All those changes are difficult to internalise and digest. "We want this book to be ready for the next summer season to help children cope better with these kinds of situations." The project is calling for contributors on a voluntary basis. Interviews will take 10 to 15 minutes and can be done in person, by phone, or online via Skype or Zoom. Researchers say they will be better able to develop materials and health messages after speaking with people who have experienced the "black summer". "During the summer fires a lot of narrative and visual information was made available for the general adult population.
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