Thursday 22 March 2012
My last day at the Center for Health Initiatives, University of Wollongong

My last full day at CHI arrived on a cool, cloud-covered Thursday. I spent much of the day saying thank you and goodbye to some newly-made friends and colleagues. I especially wanted to thank Christine Cairns who responded with inevitable good cheer and effectiveness to my never-ending requests for help with the copier, stapler, scotch tape dispenser, AV equipment, time schedules, travel arrangements, getting a computer account, logging (and dialing) on the
phone and, most importantly, how to work the coffee machine. It is one of those that grounds the beans for each cup then saturates it with steam to make something known locally as a “long
black”. I gotta get one of these when I return to the US!

Later I sat through a routine staff meeting about some changes in the way the university tracks time-off and a number of other topics reminiscent of universities and government bureaucracies across the globe. Near the end of the meeting I showed the world debut video of my song
about the International Social Marketing Association (i-SMA). I suggested that it was not just a song but something meant to be entertaining, instructive (about social marketing practice) and possibly inspiring (even I knew that I reached a little high on that last one.)

They loved the song and even suggested that I add the alphabetic motions (perhaps with help from a chorus line!) made famous by the Village People on the song, “YMCA” --the soundtrack that I used for the i-SMA song. Who knows what might happen at the 2013 Toronto meeting of the World Social Marketing Conference?

Then as a final gift to me, they all agreed to get into a group photo for my blog. As one last request, one of the student staff members requested that I write up a short summary of my experience at CHI for an upcoming edition of the CHI newsletter. So I returned to my office and spent an hour putting thoughts and words on paper. I am adding this to my blog immediately below…..

CHI Newsletter (for Uwana) 22 March 2012
By Robert Marshall, PhD, Visiting Professor of Community Health, Brown University, and
Assistant Director (retired), Rhode Island Department of Health, Providence, RI

The offer to spend three weeks at the Centre for Health Initiatives (CHI) in Wollongong presented a terrific opportunity, but neither my wife, Linda, nor I knew exactly what to expect from the experience. From the very first day we realized it would be wonderful!

We arrived on Saturday and spent the weekend exploring the town beach, harbor, local restaurants and swimming areas—including the “rock pool.” Later we ventured out to see the Nan Tien Buddhist Temple, the Mt. Keira overlook and various other local attractions. After
only three short weeks, we agree with the local population in saying “we love the Gong!”

Of course, a large part of the attraction came from the University of Wollongong (UOW)
connection. Many US campuses feature large open areas often called “quads” or “greens,” but this became our first experience with a “university set in a jungle” or so it seemed to us. We walked around during a couple of visits and marveled at the way we transitioned from a forest of eucalyptus trees to a pond surrounded by giant ferns, grass and other low vegetation. Getting lost was easy, even with a map, but students and others generously helped us find our
way back to the green bus for the journey back to the town center.

My “official” duties started off with a short presentation to the Illawarra Health and Medicine Research Institute (IHMRI) a gracious and welcoming interdisciplinary group of professionals and others dedicated to excellence and innovation in research, services and population
health. Later I settled into an office at the CHI and began interacting with faculty, project staff and students. I brought some of my lectures and other materials along; so I was able to share them with faculty and students. They offered some really remarkable insights that I can’t wait to discuss back home. Some of the best moments occurred with graduate students, observing
their participation in class and listening to their thesis projects and other work. It soon became clear to me that the discipline of social marketing at CHI stood on a firm foundation linking
research, training and practice. Also I appreciated the warmth of everyone’s welcome and their willingness to share projects and ideas.

Clearly the visit didn’t become all work and no play. Linda and I explored up the coast to the Cliff Bridge, the Hindu Temple in Helensburgh and the hang gliding center at Bald Hill (no…we didn’t try it out for ourselves.) One weekend we drove southward to the “blowhole” in Kiama, the Minnamurra Rain Forest and the national park at Jervis Bay. Our trips also included a visit to lovely Canberra, a tour of Parliament House and a visit to the National War Museum—I
especially liked the bronze sculpture of Simpson’s donkey.

With only a short time remaining before our departure to other parts of Australia and beyond, I pause to think about what this experience means to me as a practicing professional. Putting aside the wonderful sights and travels, I think this experience reconfirms for me the worldwide excellence and passion of public health practice. Few tasks call upon our intellect and energy with the same degree of intensity. And few practices offer so much to the health of entire populations. And it is even clearer, after this exchange visit, that the discipline of social marketing can play an important role worldwide in assuring the public health now and into the
future.