Banksia Boxes - Calming Children in Crisis
A Banksia Box is a care package for young patients with mental health and/or sensory needs. The name comes from Melbourne's Royal Children’s Hospital Banksia Ward (mental health ward). Hospital Emergency mental health patients often wait hours to see specialists, and may get admitted with only the clothes they arrived in. They can feel terror and boredom, alone, in a very empty room. Things to do can make hospitalization easier to cope with, particularly with sensory needs and autism.
Vic Health – Reimagining Health provided a $3000 grant for the project, with Scouts Victoria administering. 1st Milleara provided labor. Melbourne's Royal Children’s Hospital supplied technical advice, and are in charge of distributing the Boxes to patients in need. Jasper Crain (and mum) organized the materials, 1st Milleara Scout Troop assembled 100 Banksia Boxes on 27 December 2021, and Jasper delivered them to RCH on 4 January 2022. The Final Report to Vic Health is due by 1 June 2022.
The greatest beneficiaries are youth 10-18 with autism or sensory processing issues, with mental health issues including anxiety, depression, suicidality and meltdowns. Plus their families and communities. The Banksia Boxes introduce sensory self-soothing, increasing amenability to psychological help, and reducing medication/isolation/restraint. Reducing acute crises eases the load on overstretched mental health services especially in disadvantaged and rural communities and during COVID.
The Scouts involved with creating the care packages (and their families and community) learned about autism, sensory needs, mental health and associated issues, as well as developing a commitment to community service. We also learned about teamwork, and how to work with government health authorities and Scouts Victoria to get funding and make care packages. Royal Children's Hospital feedback is the Boxes are making a big difference in the Emergency and Mental Health wards, and would like more!
