Abstract
Following the mass shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio in 2019, President Trump described in an official statement his intent to monitor and involuntarily hospitalize individuals with mental health concerns lest they commit more mass shootings. Subsequently, individuals diagnosed with mental health concerns led a grassroots disability advocacy campaign on Twitter. This chapter reports on five of the trending hashtags related to the campaign during a two-week period. It details the advocacy strategies found in the tweets, including raising awareness, educating, organizing and policy change support, and fostering an inclusive environment. Practical implications for health communication professionals, disability advocates, and mental health advocates are discussed, as well as the theoretical implications for health communication advocacy, health activism, and opportunities for future research.
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Smith-Frigerio, S. (2023). #ImMentallyIllAndIDontKill: A Case Study of Grassroots Health Advocacy Messages on Twitter Following the Dayton and El Paso Shootings. In: Jeffress, M.S., Cypher, J.M., Ferris, J., Scott-Pollock, JA. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Disability and Communication. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-14447-9_27
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