“We are in the midst of an epidemic of loneliness with one in three Australians lonely.”
Dr. Jodie Scott, researcher from the University of South Australia, with her colleagues and community development experts from the Adelaide Hills, are addressing the epidemic of loneliness in their research program, The Loneliness Project. Declared a ‘pressing health threat’ by the World Health Organisation, loneliness is affecting 1 in 3 Australians, particularly those aged 18-24 and in midlife.
As part of their co-designed initiative Spark, Jodie and the team, led by Dr. Nadia Corsini, have set out to create a podcast to address the stigma around loneliness in an engaging and fun series that aims to ignite human connection.
“Our team is a mix of university researchers and community development experts from an Adelaide Hills community centre. In this respect, it is a unique collaboration, harnessing the strengths of academic evidence and ‘on the ground’ local knowledge and infrastructure.
“Inspired by our research program – The Loneliness Project – our academic and community collaboration is creating a podcast to align with our co-designed initiatives – Spark. A podcast allows us to address some of the stigma around loneliness in a low pressure medium and engage a wider audience than our individual initiatives can reach.
“Loneliness is a shared human experience that many people will have over their lifetime. The aim with our podcast is to share personal stories and talk openly about this topic in a way that is engaging, informative, de-stigmatising, and deeply embedded in evidence-based research.”
Podcasts are a great medium for connecting with Australians as listenership continues to soar in recent years. According to the Australian Podcast Bi-Annual Report for the first half of 2024, podcast listenership has grown by 42% over the past two years with people aged 18-34 more likely to be new listeners. In May this year, the average number of weekly podcast listeners reached 5.9 million, the highest monthly figure to date.
Looking for a short course to guide them through the process of creating a podcast, they turned to Podcasting for your Brand. Delivered at AFTRS by industry expert and award-winning podcast producer Pariya Taherzadeh, the course helps participants identify their niche and audience, before exploring the podcast production process stage by stage.
“What attracted us to this course is that it covered the whole process – from planning and scripting, through presenting, producing and promoting the podcast. We were especially interested in devising a unique format that would suit our aims.
“Pariya was really thorough and tailored the content to what our group was most interested in. She gave us lots of tips, tricks and ideas that can help make the process easier and more effective.
“Another highlight for our team was hearing about our fellow students’ projects and gaining their input into our project. It has helped us think differently about certain aspects and highlighted areas for further deliberation.”
Equipped with the tools and knowledge to develop their podcast further, Jodie and the team are making strides towards producing the pilot episode, and can attest to the benefits of the course for individuals and organisations ready to do the same.
“Podcasting for your Brand has given us a sound basis to continue our brainstorming and planning. Our plan is to produce a teaser and pilot episode shortly and are looking to produce a series over the next 6 months.
“The course offers insights for so many types of organisations and institutions, not just ‘business’ brands. It is especially relevant for those, like us, who need to span that creative and evidence-based divide.”
Explore Podcasting for your Brand, online and in person at AFTRS, and discover how you can harness the power of audio storytelling for your business.
