Social work students Maggie Leung and Ulani Ho from the University of Western Australia on rural placement with the WA Centre for Rural Health in Carnarvon share their placement experience.
"The Carnarvon experience has been an adventure for us so far.
Being our first practical placement, it can be nerve-wracking to do a rural and remote placement. However, spending a week at the WA Centre for Rural Health in Geraldton was very helpful in preparing us for Carnarvon.
On commencing our placement at Gnullingoo Mia (GM) Residential Care in Carnarvon, the people we work with, staff, residents, and families have welcomed us, and we feel lucky to learn alongside them.
The thing we love the most about doing a placement in Carnarvon is how close the team is. We will be collaborating with other allied health students and the residents at GM. Having a multi-faceted team and community helps in catering for the needs of the residents.
We have come to Carnarvon at an ideal time and have had the privilege to experience NAIDOC Week. The rural placement has allowed us to integrate our learnings about Aboriginal ways of Knowing, Being and Doing into practice at GM and in the community. Incorporating culturally responsive ways of engagement is at the forefront of our work at GM.
Aged care is such a dynamic space where it is important to work alongside clients’ families and other allied health professionals. We are learning about service provision for Aged Care in the regions and the different challenges that social workers encounter.
The uncertainties that Covid brings and the limitation of resources in the regions, has highlighted the need to look after yourself before you can take care of the others.
The advice we would give to other students is to ‘Stay curious and ask questions!’. When you are a student, it is an ideal time for you to explore and be open to learning. Asking questions is so important when collaborating with others as well as engaging with clients."