Goodbyes

On the eve of my last day of my practicum, I am finding it hard to say good bye and have closure with the period of my learning and my life.  These last 3 1/2 months have been such a time of growth and learning in a professional way, as well as a very personal way.  I won't go too much into the personal growth, since this is a blog for school, but just let me say that this has been a wonderful chapter in my adult life, and has plunged me forward in the comfort zone of being alone and being by myself, but not being lonely-just more comfortable being alone, and actually craving that type of time.

On the practicum front, I have grown in many ways through the experiences that I have encountered, the teaching and modeling that has gone on, the wisdom of a great mentor, to share his insight and perspective on a situation, the cultural teaching that has opened my eyes to a different way of thinking and a different foundation for beliefs, which has expanded my own.

I have learned from the individuals who have passed through Ward 21, during a time of being unwell, and have been privileged to have some of them take me along on the journey with them, even to the point of being well again, and stable, and discharged to their home or new home.  I have heard many life stories, that have been riddled with challenges and pain, but also of resiliency and growth and strength.

I will miss Ward 21, the staff, the current and past inpatients, the families, my supervisor and colleagues, and the many Psychiatrists that have worked here when I have.  Thanks for such a rich experience.  I am changed.

Maori Health Statistics

This week, I wanted to write a bit about the Maori health indicators and statistics that the Ministry of Health  in New Zealand have posted, and were shared with me at the Treaty of Waitangi Training that I attended. First, some basics: 565,329 people identified themselves as Maori, 14.6% of the total population compared with 434,847 in 1991.  The median age for Maori was 22.7 years-compared to total population median of 35.9 years.  35.4% of Maori are under 15 years old, making that 21.5% of the total population-much younger than the non-Maori population.

84.4% of Maori lived in urban areas and 23.7% said they could hold everyday conversations in Maori.

In the educational realm, 39.9% of the over-15 year olds had no educational qualifications.

This is one of the statistics that really caught my attention:  In 2001, life expectancy at birth was 69 years for Maori males and 73 years for Maori females, while life expectancy at birth was 77years for non-Maori males and 82 years for non-Maori females-an overall difference of eight years for both genders of Maori individuals.  Many of the causes for disability and illness are cardiovascular disease (2 1/2 times higher, cancer (2x more than non-Maori) and diabetes (2 1/2x higher).  Maori had higher suicide mortality rates than non-Maori (over 1 1/2 x).

There is a great focus of trying to change these statistics, and education and services are a priority for many of the District Health Boards, directed by the Ministry of Health.  I wonder how these statistics compare to our Alaska Native groups.  From my own experience, it appears to be some similarities in these groups of first people.  I hope that I can be part of the process to change these statistics for the better.

From the heart

I realized that I haven't blogged in a week.  I have started several ideas, some about entitlement, others about ethics, but today, I tossed them both aside, and wanted to just talk from my heart about the upcoming end of this internship and things that I have learned.  It has been an incredible learning and growing time for me, and I am so thankful for this opportunity.  Today was my formal evaluation with my Field Instructor, Mathew, and my UAA Faculty, Mary Dallas.  I felt that it went well, and it was a great opportunity for me to articulate some of the lessons that I have learned as I have been placed as a social work student full time for past 2 1/2 months.  I have had a great supervisor in Mathew-who has shown me the passion and dedication, along with the ethics and values that are core to the field of social work.  He has modeled for me the example of a social worker in the confines of a institutional setting who has not compromised his own values and goals, which sometimes comes in conflict with the other multidisciplinary teams or partners.

I am thankful for the down to earth quality that embodies the people that I have met here.  The video is of the 2010 World Sheep Shearing Champion, Cam Ferguson, as he competes in a regional shearing competition. It was an incredible community event to witness, and embodies the down to earth core of the individuals here.  I am so lucky.