Local Connections

A man is sitting alone at his dining table, scrolling on his phone and sipping a hot cup of tea. The footage cuts to underneath the table where the man’s dog runs to his feet for affection.

Michelle Lim: Loneliness is a distressing feeling that comes up for you when you feel your relationships do not meet your current social needs.

A woman is standing alone in her clustered kitchen over the sink, her back is facing the camera. The woman is staring out into her garden.

Michelle Lim: So, you might have many people around you but still feel like those relationships are not meaningful to you.

We now know that those meaningful social connections are actually really critical to our health and wellbeing.

Another woman is now shown sitting alone at her dining table, making felt craft by hand.

Michelle Lim: Loneliness itself impairs our ability to regulate our healthy behaviours, including things like having a proper diet or physical health activity.

The footage cuts to another woman sitting on a chair in a meeting room talking to a person left of the camera.

Text appears in the bottom left of the screen, and it reads: “Associate Professor Michelle Lim, CEO, Ending Loneliness Together.”

Michelle Lim: When we feel lonely, and we do not have those meaningful social connections, we’re actually less incentivised to take care of ourselves.

A group of eight people cross the road at the pedestrian crossing and then walk two abreast along a public path.

Text appears on screen and reads: “Local Connections links you to activities in your community to help build strong social connections and a sense of belonging”.

The footage cuts to Harry Hill, a psychologist, sitting down in a large meeting room talking to a person right of the camera.

Text appears in the bottom left of the screen, and it reads: “Harry Hill, Psychologist”.

Harry Hill: Social prescribing is essentially bridging that divide between clinical services and the community.

So one of our link workers who’ll do a warm welcome to the person. And the focus of that is just to actually work out who they are as a person, what their goals might be, and actually making sure that the person is safe so that we can kind of move forward together on a journey with them.

Yair: So of course, you can go to the GP.

Text appears in the bottom left of the screen, and it reads: “Yair Kellner, Link Worker”.

Yair: You know, they reach for the prescription pad, but it usually is for medical or medication reasons.

We’ve actually been actively engaging with GPs to get them to reach for the social prescribing pad, which means prescribing a social interaction for them or a social connection.

Tam: They just want to find a space or environment that they feel comfortable to share their time with others. How to interact with other people.

Text appears in the bottom left of the screen, and it reads: “Tam Le, Link Worker”.

Tam: Local Connections I find is a good chance for people to come and be with other people.

The same man from earlier is leaning against his patio frame, staring out to his backyard as the sun sets under his fence line.

Text appears in the bottom left of the screen, and it reads: “Errol, Local Connections participant”.

Errol: I went through a scenario last year where I was having a lot of health issues. In fact, I had 15 visits to hospital last year.

It was impacting my mental health as well as my physical health. I was lonely, and I felt it a little bit difficult to get back into a circle of friends. I started to get on the slide and started to slip down the path of, you know, despair and anxiety and depression.

The same woman who sat at her dining table is now using a sewing machine to make crafts on her living room couch.

Text appears in the bottom left of the screen, and it reads: “Catriona, Local Connections participant”.

Catriona: Growing up I was always on the more sort of socially outcast side. I really trust people that I know well, but anyone beyond that, my assumption is that people are going to dismiss or ridicule whatever they see. I get really lonely and feel very isolated.

A close-up of tree leaves in a home garden, the background is blurred. The footage then cuts to a woman crouching, plucking leaves from her garden. She is surrounded by pot plants, scrubs and trees. 

Text appears in the bottom left of the screen, and it reads: “Angela, Local Connections participant”.

Angela: I was going through really bad anxiety, depression. Pretty much just locked in my room, scared to come out, afraid to talk to anyone. I never made contact with anybody. I felt like nobody would understand.

Yair is sitting alone in a large meeting room speaking to someone left of the camera.

Yair: If we think about Local Connections, it really means participating in the community. One of our participants, Errol, has had a huge journey with us. We started very gently with Errol.

Errol and Yair are seated at the dining table chatting and sipping their hot cups of tea.

Yair: We basically worked with him one-on-one for quite some time, and slowly described to him the variety of groups that we have. But as he gained confidence and started to feel better, he actually expressed great desire to start connecting with people. Because it's actually in his character to be community-oriented.

Errol is walking along the street on a sunny morning and turns left into the front garden of the Open Door Neighbourhood House.

Yair: So then we decided that that's the moment that we can start connecting him to programs like Open House, where he can start volunteering, which he does to this day.

Errol is walking through the side entrance to the Neighbourhood House. Text appears on screen and reads: “Local Connections connects you with activities in your local community to build strong social connections and a sense of belonging”.

Errol waves to his fellow volunteer from the side window.

Errol: I thoroughly enjoy the Neighborhood House, what I'm doing at the Neighborhood House. That without a doubt, would be the jewel in my crown because it gives me so much.

Errol works in the Neighbourhood House kitchen with his fellow volunteers to prepare food packages for the local community.

Errol: Being part of the community has given me a lot more than what I actually thought it would. And the Local Connections, has been really, really big part of that.

Yair: He's now very active in the community and very much a contributing member. So it's a huge arc that he travelled.

Two women are seating inside a small café, facing each other and having a friendly conversation.

Gurvinder: When I first met Catriona, my impression of her was someone who had so much to offer, but at the same time needing an extra hand. So when she first started talking about her art in our first few meetings, I could see her face light up.

A montage of Catriona continuing to make her crafts both by hand and with her machine.

Catriona: The more and more and more things that I had that I made, the more I wanted to try and put that out there. Putting it out to kind of complete strangers was really intimidating. Oddly, I actually found that I would be more comfortable doing it in person, doing it physically at like a craft market or something.

Gurvinder sent me a message saying that there was a small market happening at the Mill Park Library.

Catriona is packing up her art craft into tubs; she is preparing to talk them to local market for sale. A montage is shown of her market stall.

Gurvinder: To actually witness that market day was amazing because she was really in her element, and she was sharing her story, and she received so much positive feedback from the community. So, it was really the best possible outcome.

Angela walks into a building and is greeted by Tam, her link worker. The pair walk into a meeting room and can be seen having a conversation.

Tam: Angela was quiet and hesitant when she first arrived. As her link worker, I developed a plan and invited her to join the Brimbank local. And then I also invited her to join all of the Local Connections activities.

Angela: Some of the groups that we did were the ‘Global Kitchen’, where we went, and we did some cooking. A group of people got to cook together and eat together, and that was quite fun.

A montage of 12 people (including Angela) standing around a table grabbing small servings of food from different dishes, Angela cooking a dish, and everyone sitting around a dining table eating together with smiles on their faces. 

Tam: She's quite active with any activity that we provide. Like, always wants to share her ideas.

Angela walks out of the building and onto the street, followed by the same group of people from the ‘Global Kitchen’. 

Angela: It makes you feel that you're not alone. That they understand what you're going through. Everybody's struggling at something, but it's just a different struggle.

Angela is leading a group discussion with other people while sitting on the grass at a local park. The footage then cuts to Angela seated at a rectangular table surrounded by people; she is once again leading a group discussion.

Tam: I'm quite happy to see her steady progress. So, a big smile all the time. The best thing I can tell, she's happy.

A montage of several people engaging in one-on-one consultations with a professional mental health worker.

Yair: When people even consider engaging with the Mental Health and Wellbeing Local, we recognise change is not necessarily going to be easy, but they're not going to have to do it alone.

We are there to support them. We try and hold the mirror to them and say, you are courageous, you are capable and let's go.

Another montage of several people engaging in one-on-one consults with a professional mental health worker.

Harry Hill: Essentially, there's a lot of people that have complex care needs that weren't getting the support that they needed.

And I think that that's what the Local Connections program is so special, because it actually provides a space for people to get the support, care, and I guess connections that they need to aid them in their recovery.

Angela is smiling and laughing while chatting to group members at a park.

Angela: Never in a million years, that I would dream I’d be sitting here talking to you about mental health and what I'm going through.

Catriona is leaving her home with her craft tools in hand; she is on her way to set up her market stall.

Catriona: Having someone’s support made me realise that there is more that I can do, and that there is more support out there.

Gurvinder is seated in a small consultation room speaking to someone left of the camera.

Gurvinder: She has developed faith in herself. It's just amazing. And that's what I really hope that continues forward for her.

Catriona: I have had several people in my social circle comment like directly and explicitly to me, ‘You seem to be in a good place at the moment.’

Angela is sitting on a chair in a bright meeting room and is talking to someone just right of the camera.

Angela: It's given me more hope. It’s given me more hope.

A montage of Errol packaging food, Errol showing Yair his artwork, and then both Errol and Yair walking down the street at dusk with Errol’s dog walking in front on a leash.

Errol: The Local Connections program, it's given me a reason to get out of bed in the morning and go and do things and grow even stronger and stronger. I think I've got a lot to offer. I just need to find what that is and then go and do it and help.

I'm not finished yet. The journey is still going. I've still got a long way to go.

Errol is sitting down on a chair in the middle of a living room talking to someone just left of the camera.

Errol: But I can be alone and not be lonely anymore. And that's a real positive thing.

The screen goes white, text appears and reads: “Local Connections provides free and confidential support to adults 26 or older, without the need for a Medicare card or referral”. The text then fades.

New text appears on the same white screen and reads: “To learn more about Local Connections, visit betterhealth.vic.gov.au/local-connections”. Video ends.

Back to Local Connections – a social prescribing initiative