The SustainCare (sustainable
self
care) network has emerged from a series of meetings through 2007 and
2008 at Schumacher College in Devon, UK. These involved people from
many walks of life with different perspectives on health
and wellbeing. All however passionately wished to
discover
sustainable health care solutions for their own and future
generations, to relearn the arts of looking after ourselves,
of living and dying, and to support all those who want to
take on their own health care.
Many participants
come from the health professions which are used to providing
patients and clients with individual advice. If this work is to
be extended to help people look after themselves as well, and to
help navigate confusing health claims, then there are new
standards to meet. Information
should
be based on rigorous science and academic work so that it
applies to the greatest number using these resources. Remedies
should only be recommended if their quality is independently
verified. A non-profit
framework is required to assure that the interests of the
community come first.
The network is
now emergent and will be open to anyone around the world who shares such interests and
passions.
The
administrator of the network will initially be
the
SustainCare Community
Interest Company. The Network extends its pioneering work in
providing quality guidance on the use of simple home remedies
through it's Plant
Medicine pages.
There are two
educational programmes associated with the launch of this
network, in the
UK and
USA. Each wishes to extend
its range to provide learning opportunities to the widest
public. It is hoped that other educational
initiatives will develop allowing for shared credits and
resources, even to a new 'transition university' concept of
several real and virtual campuses.
Plant Medicine has
been building a unique
evidence base of
relevant information on the potential benefits and risks of
using plant remedies and a public
portal of free home advice. This will be extended with
other reliable sources of health care information.
Under the SustainCare
banner there is a
pilot project to
provide home remedy guidance and self care advice at a large National
Health Service (NHS) practice in Devon England.
On this website the
SustainCare Community
pages and a new social networking site will offer anyone the opportunity to share stories about the use of
plants and other home remedies. The community pages will provide educational
projects for children and families (see the section on
Ancient Greek
Medicine), and identify sources of local knowledge
around the world.
The network will be
supported by the SustainCare Store (coming
September 2008), offering
remedies from a range of manufacturers that have been independently verified as reliable
and useful. This will provide an ethical funding platform
for the work of the network and proceeds from the
sale of products will be used solely to sustain the
community
service.
SustainCare is currently building its site and links. Please
come back or email with your initial thoughts or enquiries.
network
