foster family care – A New Vision for Mental Health

Australia can learn from a Belgian town where people with mental illness live with dignity in the community

Author: Editorial 12th July 2021 0 Comments

“At one point it became such a sanctuary for the mentally afflicted that it was said that ‘half of Geel is crazy and all of Geel is half crazy’” This article has been written by Gabrielle Carey for The Guardian. It…
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a wellbeing society

Australia, Belgium, community mental healthcare, foster family care, Gabrielle Carey, Geel, Geel Family Research Project, schizophrenia, The Guardian, wellbeing

No hugging: are we living through a crisis of touch?

Author: Editorial 11th September 2019 0 Comments

Writing in The Guardian , Paula Cocozza asks: “When did you last touch someone outside your family or intimate relationship? I don’t mean a brush of the fingers when you took your parcel from the delivery guy. I mean: when did you pat…
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a wellbeing society

foster family care, Girl Scouts, hugging, Paula Cocozza, physical touch, teachers, The Guardian, wellbeing

For Centuries, A Small Town Has Embraced Strangers With Mental Illness

Author: Editorial 25th April 2018 0 Comments

Lulu Miller reports for America’s National Public Radio (NPR): “At the center of Geel, a charming Belgian town less than an hour’s drive from of Antwerp, is a church dedicated to Dymphna, a saint believed to have the power to cure mental disorders. It’s a medieval…
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emotion-focused care

Angus Chen, boarder program, Culture & Society, foster family care, Geel, Lulu Miller, Saint Dymphna, social integration