A daily cup of wellness for Donna

Open Minds client of 17 years, Donna, has found an efficient way to incorporate multiple elements of wellness into her routine with one simple act: a daily walk for her daily coffee.

Open Minds client of 17 years, Donna, has found an efficient way to incorporate multiple elements of wellness into her routine with one simple act: a daily walk for her daily coffee.

The 20-minute walk leads Donna to a cup of her favourite coffee at the mid-point of her walk thanks to staff at her local café. Not only does the coffee bring her great joy, she also gets added bonuses of physical movement, social connection, and a dose of fresh air and vitamin D.

Donna, who lives in supported independent living (SIL) accommodation at Wynnum, set herself the goal to improve her physical and mental health this year.

Donna’s longstanding Open Minds Support Worker, Yumiko, and Acting Senior Support Worker, Kylee, suggested to Donna that instead of driving she could walk to collect her daily coffee.

Kylee has noticed an improvement in Donna’s mental health since she has built this walk into her routine.

“There are so many good things coming out of her daily walk,” said Kylee. “Besides the benefits for Donna’s physical health, I see her getting to know other people who live locally, and she is carrying out random acts of kindness towards them, too.”

Donna explains that she has helped return a lost wallet and alerted someone that they left cash behind when making a withdrawal from an ATM.

“I feel good being able to help people with things like that,” said Donna.

According to the Global Wellness Institute, wellness is multidimensional and consists of up to 12 elements, including physical, mental, spiritual, emotional, social and environmental health.

Donna is nurturing all of these when she puts her feet to pavement, and her commitment to getting out each day is testament to how good it makes her feel.

“I don’t let anything stop me from going on my walk, even if it rains. I just put on a raincoat and off I go,” said Donna.

Donna has been lucky to recently accomplish another goal she’s had since she was a young girl, which was to attend a live State of Origin Match.

Seeing Queensland defeat New South Wales in the rousing match held at Suncorp Stadium on 13 July was a dream come true for Donna.

“The atmosphere at the match was amazing and seeing Queensland win was the best,” she said.

Open Minds offers a variety of support for people with mental illness, disability or an acquired brain injury, including supported independent living and community access. Find out more about our services on our website.