Growing together through gardening
Growing together through gardening is a research project with Aruma disability services through the Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University.
This project explored the benefits of participation in horticulture for people with disability living in supported accommodation sites.
Kate collaborated with residents in planning and establishing and managing onsite gardens between August and December 2020, while collecting data about their experiences using a range of accessible and inclusive methods.
The findings of the project show time spent in gardens at home impacted resident wellbeing, fostered belonging and a sense of pride in their home, and contributed to individual’s NDIS outcomes.
Kate will be presenting these findings at the Australian Therapeutic Landscapes Conference in September and the Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability Conference in November, 2021.
There are a number of outputs from the project:
1. THE FULL REPORT
The full report outlines the entire project, methods involved and details of each of the findings. It also makes recommendations about how to better support gardening in similar sites. It is 78 pages long.
2. PLAIN ENGLISH SUMMARY
This summary talks about the main details of the project using words a bit easier to understand. It still goes through all the same information as the full report.
3. PLAIN ENGLISH GARDENING IDEAS AND TIPS
During the project, the residents and researcher came up with lots of ideas to help get everyone gardening. We created a book of ideas.
4. DOING TALKS ABOUT THE PROJECT
Kate and Elyce presented at the Australasian Society for Intellectual Disability Conference in November, 2021.
The team
Dr Kate Neale – Chief Investigator and garden co-facilitator (Centre for Children and Young People, Southern Cross University)
Danielle Davidson – Research Assistant and garden co-facilitator (Southern Cross University)
Danielle Notara –Research Lead (Aruma)
Elyce Shearer – Human Rights Advisor (Aruma)
The research team wish to formally acknowledge and thank the many Aruma staff and families who have given so much time and effort in supporting this project. Your warmth, enthusiasm and continued engagement in this project has enabled the gardens to flourish and their impact felt. You always met requests with positivity and were generous in seeking solutions. Every text message, email or phone call to describe a perfect moment in the garden, or to send photos of meals being prepared with produce in the garden provided not only incredibly rich data but so much encouragement for the research team. Thank you. We hope you continue to enjoy your gardens, the beautiful food and flowers they produce and moments of shared togetherness they foster.
Funding – The project has been match funded through Southern Cross University’s DVC Research Seed Funding Grant Scheme by SCU and industry partner, ARUMA .
