I have had a great week on placement continuing in the rehab clinic.This week I met with more service-users and luckily many of them were happy to communicate in English for me. My mentor, Helena and I planned my next seven weeks at the rehab unit and worked with service-users, booking in future appointments which I will lead myself.. I now have 4 of my very own patients here. Helena also talked me through some of the assessment tools they use here which was really interesting. Most of which is similar to in Scotland.
On Tuesday I met with my clinical supervisor, Genny. Genny took me to the mental health Accident & Emergency unit in the hospital.. This was a very interesting experience for me. Unlike in Scotland, here in Umea, they have a specialized A&E department here for mental health and a different one for physical health. This means that people get specialized help immediately from health professionals who are trained in mental health. Luckily, Genny was able to arrange for me to spend the day there in a couple of weeks time which I am really looking forward to. I am most interested to see how this affects stigma and discrimination of mental illness which I know a lot of people in Scotland face and if it has a significant impact on internalised self-stigma also. This mental health A&E department has expanded in recent years and is now available in 5 city's in Sweden. From what I have seen so far I believe this is a truly excellent, person-centred model of care.
On Friday night Helena took me to one of her friends house for a BBQ. This was a great opportunity to meet more Swedish people and see what socializing in Sweden was like. After the BBQ we then went to a Social Dancing event! This gave me a great insight into Swedish culture. This happens every Friday night in a barn, in the middle of nowhere, in Northern Sweden. The dance is from 9pm-1am with a half hour break in the middle. A live band plays, it was really busy with ages ranging from about 18-80! There are quite specific steps which Helena and her friends tried to teach me before we left the BBQ. However, a lot of people put their own style on to the traditional dance. It was an experience that was out with my comfort zone as this is not the type of thing I would usually get involved in. But I really enjoyed the experience and learned a lot more about Swedish culture.
Last night I went out clubbing with some Swedish students which was another great opportunity to meet new people and enjoy new experiences.
The weather this weekend has been absolutely gorgeous! So I have spent the day relaxing and enjoying the sun before another working week begins tomorrow.
I have attached a video of the social dancing
No comments:
Post a Comment