Brain & Life Reset, Jill Hewlett.
Hi Everyone,
Below is a heart-warming story of The Friendship Bench initiative. 💗
But first I wanted to ask you... Do you have a family member, friend, teacher or mentor who is older than you, in their senior years who is a great listener, provides thoughtful insights and practical wisdom?
While society tends to focus on youth as the most exciting and relevant time of our lives, the reality is, life experience trumps all. And, older people, tend to have a whole lot of it.
ISSUE: Unfortunately, with the rise in brain health issues and cognitive decline, people who would otherwise be great contributors to society and role models for others, are not able to offer their gifts of insights, perspective, and understanding.
SOLUTION: Thankfully, there is a ton of ground-breaking research that shows how we can avoid being the next brain-disease statistic and instead, become glowing examples of Healthy Active Aging! And the best part - it's not brain surgery... It's about applying common sense lifestyle practises and habits.
OPPORTUNITIES:
Join our Brain Fit Friday community to learn useful and simple strategies to invest into your Brain & Life Fitness. If you can't attend live, there is a library full of all the replays and resources from the day we started - so you have access to a treasure trove of learning material and strategies. For more info, click here.
SPECIAL STORY:
Have you heard of The Friendship Bench? It's a Zimbabwean community-based mental health intervention, where ‘Grandmother’s deliver problem-solving talk therapy intervention. Founded in 2006 by Dixon Chibanada to bridge the gap in mental health treatment in under-resourced areas, in an effective, simple and cost-effective way.
The ‘Grandmothers’ are rooted in their community and are the custodians of local wisdom and knowledge, but do not have prior medical or mental health experience. So they go through 8 days of training in a structured approach which emphasizes: listening skills, empathy, connection, a non-judgmental attitude, steps to generating a SMART action plan and the delivery of a screening tool. Then they have a 30-day clinic internship.
The Friendship Benches are set up at primary health care clinics or safe community spaces for those who come looking for mental health support or are referred by nurses or community members.
Today, the initiative has been scaled-up to 72 clinics in the cities of Harare, Gweru and Chitungwiza (total population 1.8 million). To date, over 40 000 people have accessed it! And, $1 million in funding comes from Grand Challenges Canada.
How special is this? If these grandmothers did not have their health, they would not be able to support others, and contribute to society in this special and powerful way...
Is it time to invest more into yours?
To your Fit Brain & Fit Life,
Jill
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Jill’s books, “Common Sense, Uncommonly Practised" and "Uncommon Sense...Put into Practice",
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Jill Hewlett is an internationally recognized speaker, trainer, wellness TV personality and author. Her impactful keynotes have engaged professionals ranging from Educators and Clinicians to Sales Leaders and Entrepreneurs. She inspires and educates audiences ranging from 10's to 1,000's at Conferences, Special Events and Corporate Training.
Licensed in the field of Educational Kinesiology and a Brain Gym® consultant of two decades, Jill has the skillful capacity to draw out the natural leadership in individuals and organizations to support them in reducing stress and achieving greater levels of efficiency, resiliency, productivity and success.