The Meaning of Health Podcast

Ingrid and Craig chat with Dr Mohammed Junaid from the UWA Dental School and Oral Health Centre of Western Australia. Junaid is a practicing public health dentist, lecturer and researcher, who trained in India and obtained professional qualifications from Royal Colleges of Glasgow and England before completing his PhD at UWA. As part of his role, he organises the Clinics to Communities program in Perth. His previous clinical work has seen him travel different regions in India.

Junaid discusses the importance of oral health, and the impact it can have on other aspects of a person’s life if it is not taken care of. He also talks through his philosophy of treating the person rather than just their teeth, as many people have a range of life challenges that impact on their oral health, and need to be understood before helping them make decisions about their oral health care.

Junaid also shares his thoughts on the oral health system generally in Australia, and challenges created by funding and resourcing issues, in part due to the fact that oral health care is not funded by Medicare for a majority of Australians.

You can read more about Junaid and his work here: https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/mohammed-junaid-2/

As always, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can contact us at: [email protected]

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Continuing our aged care series, Dorina chats with Jo-aine Hang, a research fellow at the University of Western Australia and private physio therapist, and Cheng, a Health sociologist at the University of Western Australia. They speak on healthy aging, managing fall risks and keeping up cognitive function.

Interestingly, they discuss how hospitals can be a cautionary environment for elderly patients, as well as individual issues that arise with aging and considering cultural dimensions for exercise recommendations and diets. Research is fundamental into allowing people with concerns with activity and being stationary to find a balance. They further talk about the aging population in Australia and the importance of understanding ageing in Australia.

You can read more on Jo-aine Hang and her work here: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jo-Aine-Hang#:~:text=About&text=Dr%20Jo%2DAine%20Hang%20is,University%20of%20Notre%20Dame%20Australia.

You can read more on Chang and her work here: https://research-repository.uwa.edu.au/en/persons/cheng-yen-loo/

As always, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can contact us at: [email protected]

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Visit our website: https://meaningofhealth.com.au/

We kick off our series looking at aged care and the health of aging populations with a conversation with Dr Simone Marino, a researcher at Edith Cowan University. Simone’s work is at the intersection of aging, dementia and cultural anthropology. Simone also serves as a Music & Cultural Engagement Consultant for WA InCasa Aged Care.

Simone discusses his background working with migrant communities, and the role that music plays in helping people from these communities who live with Dementia, as well as family caregivers.

You can read more about Simone and his work here: https://www.ecu.edu.au/schools/arts-and-humanities/staff/profiles/sage-futures/dr-simone-marino

As always, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can contact us at: [email protected]

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Visit our website: https://meaningofhealth.com.au/

We celebrate International Women’s Day in this special live episode, recorded at the University of Western Australia on 9 March 2026. The panel was hosted by Prof Fiona McGaughey, Pro Vice Chancellor Academic Advancement & Diversity at UWA. The panel featured UWA academics Prof Pat Dudgeon, Prof Caitlin Wyrwoll, Prof Tanya Fitzgerald and Dr Dani Barrington.

You can read more about the panellists here: https://www.uwa.edu.au/news/article/2026/march/meet-the-panellists-for-international-womens-day

The conversation covers a range of issues that have created challenges for women in public and private life over several decades, and contributed to a gender imbalance which has made it more difficult for women to advance in their careers and across society generally. The panel share their own experiences, and their thoughts on where they would like meaningful change to be made to address the historical gender imbalances that still persist today.

The event was supported by Graduate Women WA: https://graduatewomenwa.org.au

As always, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can contact us at: [email protected]

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Visit our website: https://meaningofhealth.com.au/

We continue our mental health series as Courtney and Craig chat with Marnie, Mark and Greg about their work using narrative therapy to help people navigate life’s challenges. Our guests compare and contrast how narrative therapy and western medical approaches can differ. The conversation covers themes such as respectful practice, group work, addressing violent behaviour and working with people with alcohol and other drug issues. Our guests also talk through how they working with clients can help therapists to reflect on their own experiences and lives.

Some useful resources:

https://www.metaphortraining.com/about-5-4

https://dulwichcentre.com.au

https://dulwichcentre.com.au/product/telling-our-stories-in-ways-that-make-us-stronger-barbara-wingard-jane-lester/

https://dulwichcentre.com.au/product/collective-narrative-practice-responding-to-individuals-groups-and-communities-who-have-experienced-trauma/

https://dulwichcentre.com.au/holding-our-heads-up/

And some references that support the work being talked about:

https://dulwichcentre.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/finding-the-voice-to-speak-by-Dion-Anderson-Bea-Anderson-Mark-Hammersley-Marnie-Sather-Greg-Smith.pdf

https://dulwichcentre.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/Crossing-the-River-A-Metaphor-for-Separation-Liminality-and-Reincorporation.pdf

As always, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can contact us at: [email protected]

Instagram Twitter/X Bluesky @healthmeanswhat

FaceBook @MeaningofHealth

Visit our website: https://meaningofhealth.com.au/

Leah and Craig are joined by Nicky and Jason from Anxiety UK as we continue our mental health series. Nicky and Jason talk us through how Anxiety UK came about, and the many and varied activities it carries out to help provide support for people living with various forms of anxiety in the UK.

We discussed how as a peer-led organisation, Anxiety UK’s approach is informed by people who are living with anxiety themselves. We also touched on Anxiety UK’s leadership of the Global Anxiety Alliance, which brings Anxiety organisations across the world together with the aim of “furthering understanding of anxiety through sharing of good practice, knowledge, information, research, and where possible, resources”.

Read more about Anxiety UK here: https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/

Read more about the Global Anxiety Alliance here: https://www.anxietyuk.org.uk/global-anxiety-alliance/

As always, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can contact us at: [email protected]

Instagram Twitter/X Bluesky @healthmeanswhat

FaceBook @MeaningofHealth

Visit our website: https://meaningofhealth.com.au/

As we return for 2026, we kick off our mental health series with a great conversation between Dr Ingrid Stacey and Lockie Cooke, founder and CEO of iyarn. iyarn is a digital platform designed to help to support people to keep track of their health and wellbeing across a range of domains, including mental health.

Lockie talks through his inspiration for developing iyarn, and discusses how the platform works, and some of its many uses, both by individuals and organisation who work with people. Lockie also shares some of his experience living and working in remote parts of Western Australia, and the special bond he has formed with the Bardi Jawi people from the Kimberley. Lockie’s experience has shaped how iyarn manages individuals’ data ethically, and consistent with principles of Indigenous Data Sovereignty.

Lockie also touches on the current technological landscape, and particularly some to the risks posed by the rapid rollout of AI, with some companies prioritising growth over quality assurance.

The conversation does include discussion about suicide, so if that may be upsetting to you, this may be one to skip. If listening this conversation does raise any concerns for you, you can contact Lifeline on 131144.

You can read more about iyarn and Lockie here: https://iyarn.com

As always, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can contact us at: [email protected]

Instagram Twitter/X Bluesky @healthmeanswhat

FaceBook @MeaningofHealth

Visit our website: https://meaningofhealth.com.au/

This is our traditional annual Christmas episode, a rambling chat about the highs and lows of the year and some truly awful Christmas jokes with Ingrid, Leah, Dorinda and Craig, with a musical surprise from the 2025 edition of Let's Present.

Wishing everyone a safe and relaxing festive period, and looking forward to brining you some more interesting conversations with people about different aspects of health in 2026.

As always, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can contact us at: [email protected]

Instagram Twitter/X Bluesky @healthmeanswhat

FaceBook @MeaningofHealth

Visit our website: https://meaningofhealth.com.au/

For this episode Dorinda visited the offices of Developmental Disability WA (DDWA) with our practicum student Sumaya and speaks with 3 guests with experience living with developmental disability and navigating the health system as consumers.

James, a member of the DDWA advisory council, discusses some positive experiences with hospitals and the support he received from his parents and doctors, as well as the need for improvements like reducing hospital wait times and providing separate areas for people with disabilities in emergency departments.

Georgie, who manages a back injury along with a disability, discusses problems such as the lack of understanding and respect from hospital staff, emphasising the need for better communication and support.

Justin, a disability advocate, calls for a specialised disability hospital to address the unique needs of people with disabilities, highlighting the current system's failures in providing adequate care and support, Justin calls for simple steps to be taken such as making documents such as information and consent forms more accessible for people with disability.

Many thanks to Mary Butterworth, CEO of DDWA who helped make this episode possible.

You can read more about DDWA here: https://ddwa.org.au

As always, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can contact us at: [email protected]

Instagram Twitter/X Bluesky @healthmeanswhat

FaceBook @MeaningofHealth

Visit our website: https://meaningofhealth.com.au/

Dorinda and Craig sat down for a chat with Caroline Yates, a registered nurse, educator and Director of SN Services for this episode. Caroline talks through her background as an RN, as well as an educator, and how she came to start a company that provides complex clinical care for people living at home with a disability. She also discusses the formation of the WA Complex Care Alliance, aimed at improving complex care in WA.

Caroline and colleagues identified that disability support staff were being asked to handle complex clinical treatment for their clients with disability without having sufficient training or education. To address this, Caroline and her business partner decided to provide this upskilling themselves and started SN Training to help support workers develop the knowledge and skills they needed for these important tasks, culminating in SN Training becoming a Registered Training Organisation (RTO).

Caroline discusses her thoughts on the NDIS, and how just simply improving communication between government departments, and listening to feedback from families and carers could make a world of difference in the outcomes experienced by people with disability.

You can read more about:

SN Services here: https://www.snservices.com.au

SN Training here: https://www.sntraining.com.au

The WA Complex Care Alliance here: https://www.snservices.com.au/wa-complex-care-alliance

As always, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, you can contact us at: [email protected]

Instagram Twitter/X Bluesky @healthmeanswhat

FaceBook @MeaningofHealth

Visit our website: https://meaningofhealth.com.au/