None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
For people with mental illness, social prescribing has demonstrated the ability to improve a person’s physical health, mental health, self-efficacy, enhance social participation, vocational and work readiness, decrease hospital admissions and improve quality of life. Permaculture has not previously been explored in combination with social prescribing for adults with mental illness. Permaculture is an ethics and values-driven approach to living that can be applied to all aspects of life, including mental health. This study will employ a multi-methods research design guided by a realist evaluation to assess what extent ‘GROW SHARE’ improves Quality of Life, psychological distress and loneliness. The impact on permaculture knowledge and skills and what works for whom, in what what circumstances, how and why will also be investigated. It is anticipated that this research will demonstrate preliminary evidence of the GROW SHARE social prescribing of permaculture program for people living with mental illness implemented at Primary and Community Care Services.
Interventions
‘GROW SHARE’ is a new social prescribing Permaculture program for adults with mental illness. The key objectives of the ‘GROW SHARE’ permaculture program are to 1. To improve Quality of Life (QoL) (including perceptions of overall health, psychological distress levels, loneliness and recovery) - through engagement in activities of contribution, promoting goals and purpose, social connection and belonging; 2. To develop permaculture specific and transferable skills, increasing vocational readine
‘GROW SHARE’ is a new social prescribing Permaculture program for adults with mental illness. The key objectives of the ‘GROW SHARE’ permaculture program are to 1. To improve Quality of Life (QoL) (including perceptions of overall health, psychological distress levels, loneliness and recovery) - through engagement in activities of contribution, promoting goals and purpose, social connection and belonging; 2. To develop permaculture specific and transferable skills, increasing vocational readiness and opportunities to continue formal training; 3. To build confidence in participants to use and share developed skills building capacity and paying it forward to their communities. GROW SHARE consists of eight 2–3-hour face-to-face sessions. Each session will consist of four to ten adults living with mental illness. Participants will be required to complete eight sessions but will have the flexibility to complete these sessions over a 12-week period to account for missed sessions due to acute illness, fluctuations in well-being, prior commitments, or adverse weather. Each session will have three phases: (1) Opening circle including Acknowledgment of country and group member introductions, (2) Permaculture activity in the garden, (3) Group cup of tea and snack (using fresh grown ingredients). The sessions will be underpinned by the ethics and principles of permaculture and guided by themes of water, nutrient cycling, life of the soil, preparing to plant, seeds, microclimates, and structures, harvesting, maximising nutrition, connection to land, community and self. Participants will be taught permaculture specific skills including system design, observing and interacting with nature, soil care, plant care, organic gardening, self-sufficiency, water management, harvesting, food preservation, and resource management. Through GROW SHARE participants will develop transferable skills including systems thinking, observation and awareness, resourcefulness, leadership, collaboration and communication, social, critical thinking, creative problem solving, innovation, adaptability, and ethical decision-making skills. Participants will be offered the ability to be assessed on their learning to gain credit towards a TAFE Certificate 1 in Permaculture. GROW SHARE will be taught by a permaculture teacher employed by Primary & Community Care Services to deliver the program. Session attendance will be collected. Adults with mental illness will contribute to the study by providing pre, post and 12 months post surveys using validated outcome measures and single item measures. Individual realist interviews using photo elicitation will be conducted post completing the intervention and 12 month post program interviews will be conducted individually. To identify the contexts, mechanisms, intended and unintended outcomes of the program from multiple perspectives (Adults with mental illness, Primary and Community Care Services managers, link workers and facilitators, and a nominated family carer of the participant) will be measured by interviews, group interviews and facilitator reflection notes.
Sponsors
Primary & Community Care Services
Study design
Allocation
Non-randomised trial
Intervention model
Single group
Primary purpose
Educational / counselling / training
Masking
Open (masking not used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
18 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
Group 1- Adults with mental illness Group 1 participants will be adults living in the Gold Coast community with ongoing mental illness. Participants will be care-coordination clients of Primary & Community Care Services, a not-for profit organisation that specialises in Social Prescribing programs in Australia. Primary & Community Care Services has a steady flow of new care-coordination clients (who are referred by their GP), and who if eligible for ‘GROW SHARE’ will be offered the opportunity to be involved in the program evaluation. Inclusion criteria will include clients over 18 years old who speak English, living in the community, and diagnosed with a moderate to severe mental illness likely to last six months or longer. Group 2 participants will include Primary & Community Care Services stakeholders (program developers and managers, ‘GROW SHARE’ facilitators and Link Workers) and the nominated family carer. Inclusion criteria will include • program developers and managers, ‘GROW SHARE’ facilitators and Link Workers employed at Primary & Community Care Services • nominated family carers over 18 years old and who speak English. Nominated family carers will be excluded if they are receiving acute mental health inpatient treatment or have a significant cognitive impairment.
Exclusion criteria
Clients will be excluded if they are receiving acute inpatient treatment, have thoughts of harm to themselves or others, or have a significant cognitive impairment.
Outcome results
None listed