Crafting connections around the country
How online programs can help to combat loneliness and weave people’s stories together in more ways than one.
Creating space for hearty yarns. Sky Harris, one of integratedliving’s talented Digital Support Officers, launched the Crafting Circle virtual activity program in 2023 shortly after commencing at integratedliving. The digital wellness program has proven a popular choice, helping to create a unique social and creative opportunity in an online environment.
Sky has designed the program to ensure people of varying skills and crafty disciplines feel welcome and engaged. The virtual program is supported by a seniors digital literacy program run by integratedliving called Digital Dialogue.
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Transcript
Freya
integratedliving respects and honours First Nations peoples as the traditional owners and ongoing custodians of the land. This podcast was recorded on palawa land. We acknowledge and respect the kanamaluka people of this land. We recognise their continuous connection to culture, community and country and commit to building a brighter future together.
Welcome to another episode of the Live Well Podcast. My name's Freya Griffin and I'm the Communications and Marketing Partner Lead at integratedliving Australia. Here at the Live Well Podcast, we've got the lovely Sky Harris, who is our Digital Support Officer and relatively new to integratedliving Australia and is bringing her talents into the fold with some new programs on offer. Welcome, Sky. We're really looking forward to hearing more about your new activity, the Crafting Circle.
Sky
Thank you so much, Freya. Yeah, so I started with integratedliving in late September of last year. Came from a hospitality and IT background, got to start the job. It sounded like something I'd really love to do. I actually was told about our social sessions when I was doing my interview before my interview actually, and I came with the idea of the Crafting Circle. I know from my life experience, my granny and my nan, they've taught me how to craft my entire life. I know they're older. They love your craft. Thought of the old people I know love to craft. As soon as I was told there is no crafting social group, I thought I have to change that. So yeah, I brought that forward in my interview and was like I'd love to just do some crafts with people. It's something I'm really passionate about and I love to craft, so may as well have a job where I can do it as well.
Freya
And the difference with what you're bringing to the suite of services that we offer in the the virtual programs is that it's just so accessible. There's not necessarily the travel component for our clients to participate. Can you tell us a little bit more about your digital support role in particular and how the crafting circle is delivered?
Sky
So, it's fully virtual. Anybody from anywhere that takes on integrated living services can take part. So I have clients that are up in Cairns, I've got clients who are here in Tassie, I've got clients in Brisbane, I've got clients in Victoria. You can tune in from anywhere, it's great. You just basically use Zoom. This is part of the Virtual Wellness Program. We provide clients with an iPad, we get them really confident with using it, we give them lessons on how to use it, which gives them more independence with technology, which is a huge thing nowadays.
Technology is not going anywhere. We all need to learn how to use it a little bit more in our lives. In cafes, things like QR codes, being able to just understand what that is and how to use it huge, makes life so much easier. So being able to teach people how to use an iPad, which they get to keep at the end of the course and also take part in social sessions is fantastic, especially for people who are maybe living a little more rurally, who don't get to see many people on a day-to-day basis.
They can take part in these sessions and really just get something out of it, have people to talk to and know in some of our sessions that have been running for longer than I've worked here, they have the same people still come in and they know each other so well that they've become friends outside of the course. So it's been really great to see the connections people have made during Digital Dialogue and through the social sessions. And I'm hoping that if I continue, which I hope to continue to do my Crafting Circle for long enough, I'll say some of that as well in my group.
Freya
This is a good point that you raised because it's so new, this Crafting Circle program that that you've introduced and it was so welcomed. Essentially the week that you started it was how soon can we activate this Crafting Circle program across the board?
Sky
So I found in the beginning, before I started the actual group, I had 11 or 12 weeks of material made up. I'd started quite simply, but then gauging where the participants are in the sense of a lot of them have been crafting longer than I've been alive. And that's amazing. And I love hearing their stories of craft. So I found that really tailoring the program to them where I know who's coming in week to week. Generally there might be some new people, but I know that we find it really fun to watch a video about a craft or if I bring along a simple craft and I do it with them in the video.
Sometimes they'll take part during the video, sometimes they'll bring the craft from last week to this week's session. And I know that one of our clients I was on the phone to heard the other day. She told me we'd watched out how to make some origami roses in our most you should crush session and she let me know that she's already made a few. She took some to her friend's house for her friend in a little paper bouquet and she's going to bring some to the session next week to show off to everyone. I love that show and tell element of it. I love that we are sharing what we're doing.
We're saying recently I decided one of my resolutions this year is I want to finish all the crafts that have sat in my drawer in my craft room that I've not touched for months. So last week not the ones I just been but the one before I said to the ladies please I'm going to which this cross stitch and held up one and how it was halfway through and said hold me accountable. If I do not have this done by next week I want you to all hold me accountable and just having that in my head when I was sat at home bored I think going to cross stitch some more. I don't want to disappoint the ladies. I don't want to disappoint my group.
Freya
This is so wonderful that I hear from what you're saying is that you've got a group of people that genuinely care about each other's investment. I can imagine that what the clients feel as well, if they're living a little bit more remotely and not necessarily having as much face-to-face contact in their day to day knowing that they've got this group to attend every week and that there's people that care about their progress, that would be so motivating.
Sky
It is, it does feel very motivating. Back a few years ago, especially before COVID, you had a lot of the knit and natter groups where we have one here in Launceston that I used to attend. But obviously with COVID, everything that's going on with the world, people are finding it harder to get out on a week-to-week basis and just being able to have that sort of one hour a week where you'll get together, you'll chat. Even if the ladies don't want to do a craft or bring along craft, I just want to chat. I'm so happy for that as well. Just to have that community feeling out of the group is so wonderful. And I really do enjoy knowing that even for just one hour a week, we all just get to sit and have a natural way and have a chat.
Freya
And have you had any clients that are actually picking up some different crafts?
Sky
Yes. So I've had a couple of clients where they've got arthritis in their hands. They're finding it hard to do the crafts they used to do, like the sewing and the knitting because it's very dexterous. I found that I told them about is it, what's the word for it? It's crystal. It's like crystal art. So diamond art, that's the words for it. So you take, it's a tool that looks like a pen like this. So if you can hold, oh, if you can hold a pen in any sense of the word, you're able to do it and you can create beautiful artworks out of that.
And it's still being able to have that crafting in your life where you may not necessarily be able to do what you're used to, but it's for myself. And I know that the other ladies, most of them agree with me. Crafting is like meditation. It is just a calming thing to be able to do at the end of the day when you're having a stressful time. Being able to craft is such a thing that you can just go back to it at any time and still pick it up. It's like riding a bike and not being able to do what you're used to. Might be a lot harder for some of the ladies, but it's being able to find work rounds for that. OK, we can't knit anymore, but we can do diamond art. OK, we can't sew anymore, but we can do a bit of painting here and there because it's just about holding a brush.
So it's being able to help people, no matter where they are in their life, be able to still take part in these kinds of things.
Freya
I heard mention of ladies, so I assume that maybe the group has attended mostly by women. But is it open to the gents who might want to?
Sky
Of course, or with a bit of craftiness as well? Yes. We mainly had ladies in the group, so that's why I always referred to as the because we did have one gentleman joining this couple of weeks ago and it was great to see you man, come in. I loved that and he was expressing that. He didn't really craft much, but he wanted to know what the group was about. And I said to him, do you woodwork? Because that's a form of craft. Just because it's not a needle and thread doesn't mean to say it's not a craft. We're talking crafting in all elements of the word, creating something out of something else or creating something out of nothing. That is craft to me. Whether it's what's typically seen as like mail, crafting of woodworking and things like that, it's all crafting.
So I implore anybody and everybody to come and have a little craft with me or just come and join the group for a natter and see what's going on. That's so lovely that you also incorporate the conversation element that you know. Yes it's about doing and their skills development in terms of learning more about different crafts and your favourite crafts, but that's not actually the be all and end all of the program. It really is about coming together and connecting.
Freya
Have you seen any development of friendships over the course of these very new program starting to blossom?
Sky
I think that we're all starting to get more comfortable with each other. We pick up on conversation that we may have had in previous weeks. I'm asking the ladies, oh, you said you were going to do this last week. Did you get a chance to do that? I know that one of the ladies that are is in my group, Susan. She's great and she hosts the crafting group in where she lives on a Friday. And so sometimes she'll take some of the stuff that we've done in the Wednesday and do it on the Friday.
I know last week we made heart garlands so that we could hang them up on Valentine's Day. I thought it was just like really simple; all it took was some like strips of coloured card and a stapler. It was something that really anybody could do. You could do it with newspaper if you really wanted to know that. She took that then to her crafting group she did at the gallery on the Friday and they did that together. So it was really nice to just know that what I'm doing is having an effect on others in a positive way and we get to come back and talk about it later on. So I think that there are some friendships forming. I know that I'm loving having everybody there, so I just hope it continues to be such a positive place to be.
Freya
People might be able to meet someone from a different state and just feel a little bit more connected to communities that are outside of their own direct physical community as well.
Sky
Exactly and integratedliving, we do all of the eastern coast of the mainland and then down in Tassie as well, which is fantastic. It is great to see that communities can come together and a lot of times what I have seen in different groups and in my own groups is people say I live here and then somebody will say, oh, I used to live there is such and such still there. Is this shop still open or how's this bakery doing? Is it still open? It's so nice to just hear all those little bits of info come together and the tapestry of people’s lives really just shown off in full vibrancy.
Freya
Absolutely. And it reminds us what a small world. It isn't it that regionally because this is mainly where we operate, not so much in the big cities but more in the country towns. And so just on the note of that connection piece and learning how to use seeing, how are you finding participants navigating that with learning to use an iPad as some more confident than others and how did they got those clients that aren't so familiar with technology?
Sky
I'll preface this with the fact that last year we helped about 400 people get through the program, fantastic number of people. And I know within that we had some people who already knew how to use computers. They're using them every day; they just want to try a new piece of technology basically for fun. And we had other people who maybe an old mobile phone, and that's all the technology that we touched. We really do have people from all walks of life.
When we do our initial assessment, we ask some questions about digital comfort and how comfortable people feel using emails, texts, Facebook, a whole host of topics. And then from that we could glean whether OK, this person is probably going to need a little extra help when we're setting up because they're not really used to setting things up. They don't really know how these things work or this person. We're probably going to just call them up, direct them of what to do. They're going to have no problems. We are so happy help everybody.
Generally we have two to three one hour sessions to set up the iPad and get somebody comfortable with Zoom and getting their emails and sorting that out. We found that's plenty of time. I think when I mentioned this to a lot of people, they get a bit nervous because they think, oh there's no way I'm going to do that in three hours. There is so much we can accomplish in three hours and I think a lot of people find in the end that they get to achieve a lot more than they ever thought they would just in those three hours of setting something up, getting it to a point where you can oh I know my I know how to put my passcode in, I know how to use the App Store, I know how to join a Zoom meeting, I know how to check my emails. These little things that say for myself, I take for granted every day because it just comes to me as second nature. Seeing people being able to like that light going off, that light bulb really taking off in their head is so amazing. I'll never, I'll never get bored of it. I love it when you see things click. It's an amazing feeling.
Freya
And that's such a nice segue into talking a little bit more about your role and you know what's attracted to you to working in this space as well, Sky, because of course, you've got a background outside of health and wellbeing. So can you tell me how you came across integrated living?
Sky
Yes. So my personal background is I did my apprenticeship in an IT helpdesk role. I went to university for a little bit to do software engineering. Turns out I hate coding and should never have done that. So that's OK though it took me a little too long and a little too much money to figure out. That's not something I ever want to do. But that's fine. I came here on holiday and ended up staying. Worked in a lot of different jobs. I worked in a butchery, I worked in hospitality. I worked as a cleaner and just knowing always that I wanted to have a job that was a bit more permanent, that I could help people every single day and using my previous experience of it and my knowledge around like customer service. My amazing friend Eden, I play trading card games with her every Saturday. She had told me about her job before and I said that sounds like a really fun, cool job. Um, please tell me more about it. It sounded like such a great work, life balance and being able to help people while you're also being able to have a life outside of that. You're not....what's the word like? It's a lot more flexible in that sense. And she had actually mentioned to me about a job might be coming up here and I'd had a chat to her about it and she basically said you should apply. And so I did, and she was the one who mentioned to me.
We also host social sessions, so if you have an idea for a social session, bring it with you. They'll love that. And when I did get my interview, I did get to bring along. I'd love to do a crafty social session. I've actually had chats with my lovely boss Zoe now, and she says the second you mentioned you had a crafty social session idea, I loved that about you. It was great. It was. I was so happy to be able to bring that along because it is something I'm so passionate about. I've been helping my own family for free for as long as I can remember with technology. My Nan's had iPads, my grannies had iPads. I've always been the tech person in the family and to be able to actually do it as a job and be able to help more than just my family is amazing.
Freya
Yeah, you come across as an absolute natural in this space. We're so pleased that you've landed on your feet in in this role and then within mere months you're often and racing and you're actually implementing that idea yourself.
Sky
Yeah, it's been a fantastic feeling knowing that sort of within this role, I'm listening to my thoughts and feelings are taken on board. My ideas, while not always implemented because so many people on the team, we all have ideas. Some of them work better than others, but just knowing that my ideas are listened to is fantastic.
Freya
How do you think the Crafting Circle more generally helps older Australians that maybe are going through a tough time with maybe some physical health challenges and what this might do for wellbeing and mindfulness?
Sky
Being able to just have that sort of connection with people, be a little less lonely as somebody who works from home, where a lot of the time I don't see people all day, having that sort of that little bit of time where I'm out of talking to people on the phone or having a social group like that. It is so much nice to be to feel a little less lonely and everything. And I think that loneliness is so much worse than a lot of people think because it does have such an effect on your mental wellbeing and your physical wellbeing. You get so depressed, and you lose care for your physical health, and I think that has a huge impact on it. I think also with regards to people's health, just being able to keep active in a sense, we offer the Exercise Physiology through the digital program as well, where you can use the iPad to take exercise classes, even if it's from sitting in a chair. There's also some light exercises by standing up and doing some exercises with the Exercise Physiologist. I think that's a huge part of it too. We know and we've seen the studies and we understand keeping moving and keeping active is one of the best things you can do is you get older.
Seeing that myself, that's really pushed me. I've started going to the gym now three times a week. I've seen what effects it can have, and I think when I get older I don't want to be stuck in a chair, I want to be up and about and doing things. So I do think it has a huge effect on people's mental and physical wellbeing. And I think there's something that if we can play a role into helping that, that we should. Yeah, it you're keeping the radar open for clients by the sounds of it. In terms of what might be useful next for them, yes. So I think for I know as part of our digital dialogue cost, we do a session about Wellness for Independence. We also do a session about integrated living and our services. So we do try and include that. And a lot of the time what we find is clients will come to us after they've been to that week 11 session and say, actually I'd like to take part in Exercise Physiology or I want more domestic assistance and stuff like that. And while that's not particularly our area, we're always going to try and find a way to help. We're going to put the tickets in, but we have to ask the boss, oh, hey, this person has asked me for this. How do I help them with that? We're always going to try and help. We want to help others. We care and we want to help. So if we can do that, we will.
Freya
It's such an important piece. What do you have to say about as a younger person connecting with older people in the community?
Sky
I think it's an amazing thing to be able to do. Even before I had this job, I tried to do some voluntary work back in the UK when I lived there. This was when I was 17...18, just to go and speak to people in their homes who maybe were quite lonely and needed some help. I've also tried to do some voluntary work with writing letters to people who are in homes who don't really have a lot of people to talk to, because I just cannot stand the thought of somebody being lonely. So I want to do as much as I can to help with that.
I think intergenerational friendships and relationships are so amazing because I got learned so much from people who I've worked with clients here. Because being new to Australia, I've only lived here for about 4 1/2 years now. I don't know a lot of places. I don't know a lot of the history and being able to learn that from people who have witnessed it first-hand has been amazing. Somebody will tell me where they're from and I go where's that? And they say if you look on the map and you look here and this is where this thing is, and it's been really fun to just be able to learn so much. I know that when I first moved here, before I even had the ability to legally work here, I volunteered at the local op shop in St Marys on the East Coast of Tasmania because I just wanted something to do with my time and it meant that I could help out a charity. I could help out towards the school association but also learning stuff from the locals was it was such a rich wealth of knowledge. I'd say I just want to go on a walk this weekend but I don't know where to go and I'd have three ladies stood around me in a couple of men stood around me all going show me on a map or we could go here and this is a really good walk and you get to see this view from here and stuff like that. So I think being able to ask these questions and learn these things and learn about people's lives, I think it just makes my own life so much richer that I get to know I have the privilege to know these things and to know these people. You just get so much knowledge that we would not know that nowadays without them. So it's such a beautiful thing to be able to take part in.
Freya
What I'm hearing is that when you feel more connected to the community that you've joined in in the last four years and is there perhaps a lesson there for younger people that might have missed out on that social enrichment that they can look at different ways to connect in their communities?
Sky
Definitely I think that people should be getting out there and just helping people. I know a lot of the times there are local groups that happen that may not have to stop due to low numbers and know that sort of. We have local crafting groups here, we have the men's club, we have local woodworking groups and just being able you can learn so much from older people that you may not necessarily learn while you're at school or through your friends in your age bracket, you know, I get to spend time with people and maybe that helps with their loneliness and we have a nice conversation and they learn about me. But realistically, I feel like I'm the one with the better deal because I get so much information and knowledge and the fact that they just give people give me their time and their patience and their stories and everything about them. I just love that. And I think that it is definitely something that more people need to get involved in If your local home needs volunteers for coming in and reading to people or just coming in to chat with some people. Unfortunately, we do live in an age where there are some people who live in older people's homes that do not get visitors. And I hate the thought of that. The thought that somebody sits there all day and they have people to talk to in their own age bracket, but they don't have somebody who's going out and living life in the world right now who can come in and say to them, this is what's happening in town right now. This is what's happening in the world.
A bakery that used to go to when you were younger, that's actually shut down now, and they've turned it into a clothes shop instead. These little things where it keeps people's minds young. They hear the same stories every day of people around them. It's like an echo chamber at that point. If they hear the same things over and over again. But being able to have somebody come and sit down and have a cup of tea with them and say, oh, actually, yeah, I just want to get my hair done. And this was happening and this is what I was talking to my hairdresser about. Just like little things to keep your mind going, I think that's so important. And I I would hope that more people would even for a couple hours a week, just volunteer locally. I think in any capacity would be good.
Freya
I think there's something in that Sky, it's not as common as perhaps what it could or should be. Sky, thank you so much for your time with this episode of Live Well Podcast and the Crafting Circle. If people are interested, if they've listened to your story and they're interested to either get involved themselves or to refer a loved one to get involved in the program, how did they go about it?
Sky
So just contact us on our main line and let them know you'd be interested in getting involved in the Virtual Wellness program. From there we'll put you in for a support plan review. And that means that we'll be able to get in that funding and we'll get you in for an initial assessment as soon as we can. So yeah, just get in contact with us.
Freya
That's excellent. Thank you so much for your time, Sky, and thank you for having me. We look forward to hearing how it all progresses in the months to come.
Sky
Thank you so much.