Scott and Florence always believed that it was critical that they constantly observed, listened to the people they met and learnt from those experiences and that the Sam Project would need to evolve, based on what they learnt. One of their personal mottos is, “History will keep repeating itself until we learn from it and change our path.”

What was patently obvious, based on all that they heard and their personal experiences, was that all of the money and attention is focused on treatment and next to nothing on real prevention. Whilst they support the need for appropriate and correct treatment of people who are sick, they believe that the diagnosis process needs to change to include the determination of the cause of the illness. How can someone be properly treated if the causes are not understood and form part of the treatment plan, is their considered view. Equally, how can prevention be properly understood and undertaken if the causes are not properly recognised and understood. After all, if you don’t know what the causes are how can you prevent them from impacting those that are healthy.

“There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they are falling in.” is a profound Desmund Tutu quote

The definition of Prevention is, the action of stopping something from happening or arising. Prevention is not waiting for something to happen and then treating it.

“We can ignore reality, but we cannot ignore the consequences of ignoring reality” is an appropriate quote from Ayn Randand for what is happening in Australia today. It is little wonder that the incidence of mental illness and suicide continue to increase when we ignore the realities .

To pass this reality onto the next and future generations is unacceptable to Scott and Florence and the Sam Project is committed to advocacte for the necessary changes.