Hopewell is a residential treatment community located on a 300-acre working farm in Mesopotamia, Ohio. Here, adults who have been diagnosed with forms of mental illness experience success, find a life of purpose, and feel hope.
Hope and Healing for Adults with Mental Illness
Hopewell is a farm-based residential treatment program for adults with severe mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, bipolar disorder, OCD, and major depression. Using the healing powers of nature, of meaningful work, of our therapeutic community, and of clinical engagement, Hopewell’s program transforms the whole person: mind, body and spirit. We empower individuals to function at their highest level of effectiveness, leading to a more satisfying, self-reliant, and independent life, both during and after their stay.
The Healing Power of Nature
The findings on the mental health benefits of nature have been called “some of the strongest in the social sciences.” Hopewell’s program takes place in the low rolling foothills that begin the Appalachians, in the heart of Ohio’s Amish country in Mesopotamia, Ohio. On our 300-acre farm, our residents benefit from our animals, our nature therapy program, and from self-discovery – in our barns, barnyards, pastures, gardens, fields, meadows, ponds, and an extensive maple-filled forest, all interconnected with paths and laced with streams.
The Healing Power of Work
Work has demonstrable positive effects on mental health, including improving medication compliance, lessening of symptoms, and reducing the number of relapses. Through meaningful work, our residents learn personal responsibility, establish a routine to encourage structuring of their time, learn to stop focusing on symptoms, and make powerful contributions to community life. Participation in our work teams – animal care, farm, garden, wood shop, kitchen, maintenance, maple-sugaring and others – is a key source of our residents’ success.
The Healing Power of Community
At Hopewell, our therapeutic community is central to our approach to treatment. Studies find that therapeutic community participants show improvement in mental health symptoms, especially for participants who enter treatment with the most severe problems.
Our entire therapeutic farm community, both staff and residents, works together to help residents help themselves and each other, to hold one another accountable, and to celebrate and sympathize together. Our residents discover by example what people with similar challenges can accomplish. Our community also provides multiple social, musical, artistic, wellness, spiritual, worship and recreational opportunities.
The Healing Power of Clinical Engagement
Our clinical team of psychiatrists, nurse practitioners, counselors, social workers, nurses, and other staff works with residents both in individual sessions and in groups, using evidence-based modalities and other best practices to shape change. Our psychiatrists help with medication management and other issues. More generally, each resident works with a specific clinician to develop concrete goals for discharge that set a foundation for stability and increasing independence, and our clinicians lead our entire team in helping our residents accomplish their goals.
A Powerful Impact on Mental Health
Hopewell is one of a very few facilities in the country that provides comprehensive mental health treatment in a working farm setting. We were the first therapeutic farm community in the United States to be accredited by the Commission on Accreditation of Rehabilitation Facilities (CARF) for Therapeutic Community: Mental Health (Adults), and remain the only mental health facility so accredited.
We pride ourselves on measuring and reporting our outcomes. In a study of 240 recently discharged residents, Hopewell achieved improvements in Global Assessment of Functioning (GAF) scores ranging from 15% – 29%, which moved these individuals on average from “Serious Symptoms” to “Moderate Symptoms.” After discharge, 81% of those residents were living independently or at home with families, and only 7% percent were in hospitals – arguably the highest test of our effectiveness.
Hopewell is a non-profit, private-pay facility. Most residents use private pay to cover the cost of services, but some use a combination of private pay and a limited period of insurance benefits. We are one of the few residential communities that maintains contracts with insurance companies and dedicates staff to help navigate the insurance process.
We recommend a minimum four month stay in our residential treatment program, and work with each resident to determine a length of stay that takes into account personal goals for treatment. Our admissions department is available to discuss individual care needs and assist you in determining if Hopewell is an appropriate treatment provider for your unique situation.
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