We are delighted to announce the winners of the 2026 Elly Jansen Award!

We are delighted to announce the winners of the Elly Jansen Award 2026, the annual celebration of innovation and creativity from therapeutic communities the world over.

This year’s winners span three continents and diverse cultural contexts, reflecting how therapeutic community principles continue to have a positive impact worldwide.

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Article Entry Winners: The Richmond Fellowship Society - Bangalore

This year’s Original Article Entry Award winners are Lata Hemchand, Kalyanasundaram Seshadri, Rahul G, Tarannum Taj, Harshitha Rai, and Chaitra N from the Richmond Fellowship Society Bangalore. They were recognised for their article, “Therapeutic Community as an Agent of Social Connectedness”, which used themes from community meetings, staff notes, personal reflections, and group feedback to explore how their residential Therapeutic Community influenced social connectedness. The Committee considered this theme to be of acute relevance in these difficult times of social division in so many countries across the world.

Article Entry Runners-Up: KS, UK and Foundation Rosa dei Venti, Italy.

This year’s runners-up are KS, who wrote a reflective account about living in a Therapeutic Community in the UK, which the Committee thought captured a real feel of the experience of being in a therapeutic community; and Fondation Rosa dei Venti, whose article describing their approach at ‘Villa Plinia Park as an Open-Air Therapeutic Community’ shone a very relevant light on using nature and outdoor activities as part of the therapeutic community intervention.

Research Proposal Winner: BetterStreet Ltd. and the Stonehenge Therapeutic Community, Guelph, Canada

This year's winner of the Research Proposal Award is Sofia L. Panasiuk, Tony D’Amato Stortz, Robert Raynor, and Cheri Bilitz from BetterStreet Ltd., Canada and the Stonehenge Therapeutic Community, Guelph, Canada. Their research proposal, “Health system cost-savings of abstinence-based therapeutic communities for chronically homeless and substance-dependent adults in Canada”, will evaluate therapeutic community treatment for chronically homeless and substance-dependent adults in terms of healthcare cost savings, supporting the case for their wider adoption and funding. The Committee was delighted to support a research proposal which integrates research from the very beginning of setting up a new therapeutic community, and contributes to the evidence for the cost-effectiveness of the therapeutic community approach.

Dr Peter Cockersell, Chair of the Elly Jansen Award Committee, said,

"The quality of the entries for this year’s Elly Jansen Award has been outstanding, and the fact that winners are from all over the world showcases the universal values and effectiveness of therapeutic community principles in improving people’s lives. It is especially meaningful to grant an award to the Richmond Fellowship Society Bangalore, which was co-founded by Elly Jansen herself over forty years ago”

The winners of the Original Article Award and the Research Proposal Award will present their work at this year’s 47th TCTC Conference, on Wednesday 30th September 2026, and will have their work published in the Mental Health Review Journal.