Wedge Street Community Garden - Circular Head

Circular Head

Wedge Street Community House Community Garden Program

Rural Health Tasmania

CAPITOL SHOWCASE

Innovation in Action

Showcasing excellent community-based health and wellbeing initiatives

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Why was this program needed?

• Circular Head residents face challenges associated with socioeconomic disadvantage, including impacts from social determinants of health.

• Reduced access to good nutrition, physical activity and social inclusion may contribute to a range of conditions, including overweight and obesity.

• However, local programs focused on community strengths provide great opportunities for improved health and wellbeing.

• Rural Health Tasmania provides a range of services to meet community needs, including Wedge Street Community House (WSCH) and associated activities.

• The Community Garden Program was established to meet the need for greater literacy (including health literacy) with community members.

The Community Garden Program is located at Wedge Street Community House enabling ready access by local community members to participate in gardening activities, leading to better health and wellbeing.

• The program is also incorporated into Certificate I in AgriFood Operations, providing participants opportunities to gain various skills.

Community Garden Program goals and activities

Positive outcomes for the Circular Head community

• The main goal is to improve literacy, and provide healthy produce for participating members and their families .

• The program is based on community need, with both education and social components being well received by the community, potentially leading to many positive outcomes.

• The main garden is located at WSCH in Smithton, with some gardening activities expanded to private households.

• Funding provision has included Rural Health Tasmania, Healthy Tasmania Fund, Circular Head Council, and State Government.

• Historically, the program has been led by Rural Health Tasmania Health Promotion staff, and more recently, the Community House Facilitator.

• Garden activities involve produce cultivation, harvesting and distribution for personal or community consumption.

• Key components of activities enable measurement and reading of documents or labels, which leads to improved numeracy and literacy.

• Participants also receive food preparation and nutrition information delivered through workshop educational sessions.

Further information: https://utas.edu.au/health/community-programs/capitol http://www.ruralhealthtas.com.au/

• Participants demonstrate improved literacy and numeracy, and improved gardening skills and knowledge, which may be linked to gaining formal education qualifications.

• Garden produce is used within programs (soups, jams, and relishes), for personal use and shared with the community, leading to better nutrition and social connection.

• Participation leads to increased confidence and resilience, and sense of ownership through contribution to the community.

• Participation may also lead to improved mental health, greater physical activity and more healthy eating, leading to better health and wellbeing for the Circular Head community.

CAPITOL (Critical Age Periods Impacting the Trajectory of Obesogenic Lifestyles) is a community-based and community-driven project which aims to build capacity in North-West Tasmania to more effectively prevent obesity. This content has been produced in collaboration with Rural Health Tasmania staff.