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Care Farming Australia
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24.01.2022 I sincerely hope I will be able to travel next year to visit Slí Eile in Ireland. In the Irish language, slí eile means ‘another way’ and Slí Eile was set up to provide an alternative recovery option for those who might otherwise have to spend time in a psychiatric hospital. It operates through two separate companies: a housing association that provides residential tenancies and a support service that provides a range of services that assist tenants in moving forward with th...Continue reading
24.01.2022 I am so pleased to have partnered with University of Tasmania's University College to become the project mentor of five students who are doing an Associate Degree in Applied Health and Community Support. Together we are embarking on a project that will look into Care Farms as a holistic approach to mental health recovery. The study will be based on outcomes of Care Farms in the US, UK and the Netherlands to determine the professional and technical viability, resource sustaina...bility and potential patient outcomes of the first residential care farm in Australia. I am so excited to be working with this passionate group of students who will deliver a project plan that will showcase how Tasmania can take a national leadership approach to Care Farms in Australia. I feel grateful to be given the opportunity to strengthen the capability of the future workforce, working towards improved health and well-being outcomes for people living with mental illness. https://www.utas.edu.au/college/courses/health
21.01.2022 ‘A shining light’: a lovely article about the care farms in the UK supporting people with mental health challenges.
21.01.2022 Today I connected with Joy O'Neill in Cambridgeshire in the UK. Joy is one of the Winston Churchill Memorial Trust UK 2020 Fellows. When travel is safe, she aims to research care farming in Ireland, Italy and Norway. The focus of her research will be on the benefits of care farming for farmers and the rural community, including the benefits for the farmer's own mental health. She will explore how farmers in the UK can be encouraged to use some of their land for care farming.... We had an interesting conversation about the diversity and complexity of care farming: the different language that is used to describe it and the variety of farms in terms of their size, purpose and the wide range of clients they serve. The benefits of care farming are well documented; however, it appears to be quite a challenge for care farms in the UK to get the number of participants they need to be a viable business. Navigating legislation, financing and quality assurance is challenging, even in countries that have well established peak organisations providing support and advice. Joy's research is vital in our effort to grow care farming into the thriving practice it could be, and I wish her all the best. You can follow Joy's Blog here : https://cf2020greencare.blogspot.com/
17.01.2022 Yesterday morning I connected with Hopewell, the residential therapeutic farm community for adults with mental illness located in Ohio in the United States, that I was meant to visit this year for my SANE Australia Hocking Fellowship research. Set on a 300-acre farm in Mesopotamia, Hopewell can serve up to 38 adults in four separate residences through a unique program that incorporates the healing power of nature, meaningful work and a strong sense of community. They apply a ...truly person-centered approach by providing people with choice, offering a variety of therapy options, including a nature therapy program, EMDR, Art therapy, Equine-assisted learning, Sandplay therapy, Family therapy and transitional services alongside meaningful work and clinical support. It was great to meet with Colleen-Director of Program and Operations, Candace - Quality Improvement & Compliance Director and Chris- Director of Outreach via Zoom. We talked for nearly two hours about their 20 + years of experience of working at Hopewell : the changes they made, the challenges they faced and the successes they had. It was great to be able to ask lots of practical questions and so valuable to listen to people with so much knowledge and experience in this model of care. This research will inform the development of a model of care for Australia I have started working on. I am so grateful for the support of Dr Bernadette Whitelum and Thomas Hehir in Melbourne, who are helping me put together a business plan for a feasibility study, that will bring us one step closer to realising a residential care farm in Australia for people living with mental illness. https://www.hopewellcommunity.org/
17.01.2022 Thank you Amanda - Kingborough Councillor for a great meeting at Brookfield Shed Margate talking about care farming. I enjoyed listening to your story about your time working for a Women's Shelter in Kings Cross in Sydney; how you used to take the women to the Botanical Garden, so that they could get away from the concrete jungle they were surrounded by and connect with nature, breathing in fresh air. We agreed care farming is a great concept that provides us with so many op...portunities to provide care in more open, natural environments that are far more therapeutic than the hospital based settings we so heavily rely on. Your support is much appreciated. Together we can make change and advocate for strength-based , recovery models of care that focus on wellness, rather than illness.
17.01.2022 For those living in Queensland: have you heard of Naradell Inc? Naradell is a not-for-profit charity evolving from the dreams of carers. One of their goals is to establish Naradell Farm, to be located in the Sunshine Coast hinterland providing short term or extended term accommodation, activities, education and social connection. Another goal is to establish Naradell Hub, to be located in the urban area of the Sunshine Coast providing activities to suit a wide range of inte...rests & physical abilities and the opportunity to acquire skills focussed on gaining, or returning to employment. The Hub will also include Naradell Information Centre (NIC), building a communication channel with other activity or training based individuals or organisations. Get in touch with Naradell and see if you can join in their efforts to improve the lives of those living with a mental health condition in Queensland. https://www.naradell.org.au/
16.01.2022 Thank you National Rural Health Alliance for giving me the opportunity to contribute to your online magazine Partyline with a story about care farming. The next step is the development of a model of care that will hopefully bring us one step closer towards the first residential care farm in Australia for people living with mental illness.
16.01.2022 Almost a month after appearing on ABC Landline, I am still receiving phone calls, messages and emails from people across Australia. Lovely, beautiful and enthusiastic people who want to be involved, want to work on a care farm as a (mental) health professional, want to refer their loved ones, want to volunteer their time or are offering their land. I feel humbled by all the encouragement and often feel I am letting you down, as I feel I do not have much to offer at this point... in time. But what I can share with you is my passion, drive and unwavering belief that one day we will break ground and embrace new, more holistic models of care that have proven to be successful elsewhere in the world. Together we can make this happen. What can you do? How can you be involved? Talk about it. I talk about care farming all the time, probably boring people to tears, but who ever wants to listen will hear about my passion for this model of care and the need for us to do better in Australia. Talk to your local service providers, tell them about care farming, use the examples that we have in Australia and explain how successful and popular they are in Europe and across the world. Talk about your own lived experience of the current system (as a service user, family member, friend or professional) and point out the changes we can make that will allow us to provide better care, in healthier environments and in more holistic ways. Start your own initiative. I know a number of people already are, and there are a number of social farms already operating in Australia ( see list below) Write to your local Minister for Mental Health, your local Members of Parliament and Independent politicians. Write to the National Mental Health Commission as they "provide independent policy advice and evidence on ways to improve Australia’s mental health and suicide prevention system, and act as a catalyst for change to achieve those improvements." Feel free to refer to this Page, my Hocking Fellowship or my efforts at any time. Operating: https://www.careship.com.au/ (SA) https://www.northfreosocialfarm.org/ (WA) Wanting to start: https://restart.org.au/restart-farm/ (VIC) https://www.naradell.org.au/our-future.html (QLD) https://www.sane.org//current-hocking-fellows/liz-everard-
15.01.2022 It was great to connect with Lisanne Finston (CEO) and Tamara McKernan (Director of Admissions) of Gould Farm, to progress my SANE Australia Hocking Fellowship research. Founded in 1913, Gould Farm is the first residential farm community in the nation situated in the Berkshire hills of western Massachusetts. Gould Farm is dedicated to helping adults with mental health challenges move toward recovery, health, and greater independence through community living, meaningful work,...Continue reading
13.01.2022 I enjoyed being part of the 2020 virtual Australian Rural & Remote Mental Health Symposium today, proving a presentation that showcased the opportunities we have in Australia to embrace the care farm model for people living with mental illness. Whist the model operates successfully in a wide range of environments, it shares a natural kinship and rapport with rural and regional communities. For rural Australian communities where access to mental health care can be limited by distance, expense and stigma, therapeutic farms offers a place-based solution that engages the local environment, local farming practices and local industry. Therapeutic farms deliver holistic, evidence-based care in a familiar environment where residents can maintain their social identity as contributing members of a working farm. #rrmh
13.01.2022 Unfortunately the Annual Forum of Mental Health Families and Friends Tasmania has been postponed. Hopefully it will be going ahead sometime in 2021. I presented at their Annual Forum last year, when I had just won the SANE Australia Hocking Fellowship Award and everything had just begun....It will be great to come back and provide an update on everything that has happened in this amazing and unusual year and where we are up to now. I am looking forward to catch up with Alison... Salisbury, recipient of the Hocking Community Grant and fellow Tasmanian. Alison's research is comparing the lived experiences of carers in Tasmania, the UK and Italy. The findings of her project will support the introduction of best practice community-based carer support services throughout Australia, and empower those caring for loved ones with complex mental health issues. Alison has been doing these really great podcasts that tell the story of those with direct and first hand experience of mental illness. The aim of the podcasts is to educate, reduce stigma and empower those who live with and support those with mental illness. In the same way the ABC series ‘ You Can’t Ask That’ provides a platform for minority groups to debunk myths and prejudice. You can listen to them here : https://mhfamiliesfriendstas.org.au/category/podcasts/ https://www.sane.org//current-hockin/2426-alison-salisbury
12.01.2022 NOW IS YOUR CHANCE! To put care/social farming, therapeutic farm communities, therapeutic horticulture, and other nature-based interventions on the mental health reform agenda! Late last year, the National Mental Health Commission (NMHC) launched the Connections Project as a national conversation and consultation about the future of mental health and suicide prevention in Australia. As part of this project, the Commission visited 26 communities across Australia to hold Town H...all meetings at which anyone with a living experience of mental health; consumers, carers, families and those organisations which provide support and care, were invited to attend. I attended the Hobart Town Hall meeting and was able to put therapeutic farm communities for people with mental illness on the mental health reform map as a ‘big idea’ to improve mental health in our community :) The insights from these consultations were consolidated into the draft Vision 2030; Blueprint for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention in Australia and delivered to the Commonwealth Minister of Health in December 2020. The Vision 2030 Project is now in its next phase, the focus of which is the development of an Implementation Roadmap which will identify key actions, policies, programs and funding mechanisms, needed to enable change. Now is your chance to get involved! Today, the NMHC announced the launch of a new national and sector wide consultation program to inform the content and recommendations of the Vision 2030 Roadmap. The Roadmap will address the specific policies, programs, investments and requirements to enable sustainable change. During the upcoming weeks and months, they will be inviting individuals and organisations to participate in a series of activities including Q&A webinars, written online consultations and roundtables. For more information and to register your interest, see: https://www.mentalhealthcommission.gov.au/menta/vision-2030
10.01.2022 My abstract has been accepted! I am really happy that despite not being able to present the research findings of my Hocking Fellowship project, I am still able to provide a presentation about the benefits of therapeutic farms for people with mental illness at the Australian Rural & Remote Mental Health Symposium to be held at the National Convention Centre in Canberra on Monday 26 - Wednesday 28 October 2020. The presentation is scheduled on Day 3 under Mental Health Studies ...and will provide an overview of care farming and the benefits of this model of care that incorporates meaningful work, community living and clinical care in a supportive, homelike environment that builds on people’s strengths, skills and self-confidence and delivers sustainable mental health outcomes. I will provide a similar presentation at the International Mental Health Conference 2020 taking place on the Gold Coast from Thursday 12 November - Saturday 14 November 2020. I hope both conferences will be delivered in the traditional face to face manner, but it would not surprise me if they were transitioned into an online hosting platform. Nevertheless it will be fantastic to present at these large scale professional events and spread the word about care farming for mental health. You can register here: https://anzmh.asn.au/rrmh/ https://www.imhconference.com.au/
