Wellness hub provides social connection for healthy ageing
A preliminary research investigation is demonstrating the importance of how social connection activities and programs can help healthy ageing. Pictured are Brighton Wellness Hub.
Early research on the Brighton Wellness Hub is demonstrating its valuable contribution to healthy ageing.
Brighton Wellness Hub provides inexpensive activities and services at Brighton Health Campus to support ongoing community and social connection.
The collaborative research evaluation between University of the Sunshine Coast and Metro North Community and Oral Health (COH) is investigating how community connection activities at the Brighton Wellness Hub are supporting the emotional, social and physical wellbeing of participants.
University of Sunshine Coast lecturer and research lead Dr John Rosenberg said socialisation helps protect people from psychological distress and enhances overall wellbeing, especially for the elderly.
“Social isolation and loneliness are increasingly being recognised as key public health issues, with 51 per cent of Australians reporting feeling lonely at least once a day,” Dr Rosenberg said.
“The community issue is associated with a range of adverse health outcomes including smoking, poor sleep, decreased immune system functioning, depression and poor quality of life.
“In addition, growing evidence demonstrates social isolation and loneliness have significant health implications for older adults, including premature death, cognitive decline, mental health conditions and dementia.”
The Ripples in a pool: Evaluation of the Brighton Wellness Hub aimed to ascertain how the facility is building connections, supporting social and emotional wellbeing and reducing isolation.
COH Consumer and Community Partnership Manager Claire Harrison said programs at the Hub were inexpensive, far-reaching and delivered positive health outcomes.
“They address social isolation and loneliness among older adults by enhancing opportunities for social connectedness and healthy ageing,” she said.
“The Brighton Wellness Hub is a space for people of all ages, abilities and diversity, to come together for healthy ageing, and to improve access to health services and health information.”
The Hub delivers a range of activities such as the Bright ‘N’ Sparks Choir, community yoga, walking football, hearing tests, cooking demonstrations, meditation sessions, line dancing, card making, lawn bowls, knitting and crochet, and mahjong.
“Preliminary feedback from the participant research survey has shown that hub participants were now exploring outside interests and had access to a broader support network thanks to the interactions,” Ms Harrison said.
“Participants were immersing themselves in Hub activities and encouraging others to join with the growth in attendance at the Hub growing from approximately 300 visits per month in 2023 to over 650 visits per month at the end of 2025.”
The Brighton Wellness Hub was developed in response to community stakeholder feedback and is built on the Compassionate Communities From Health Connections model which evaluates the health improvement and cost-benefit analysis of these types of programs to reduce hospital admissions and re-admissions.
Following the preliminary research investigation, there are plans to replicate the program and implement it in other locations.
“Re-imagining a health system that is consumer focused, community centric, health promoting and accessible to all, is what the Hub and models created by it, hope to achieve,” Ms Harrison said.
“It fits into our current healthcare system by wrapping health promoting care, around acute and sub-acute health care to reduce hospital admissions and readmissions, by creating a healthier environment for our ageing population.”