A bit of culture in Wellington last weekend

Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to go to the World of Wearable Arts in Wellington.  It was an amazing event, that showcased so many amazing creations. It was different than our Wearable Arts in Juneau, and was choreographed beautifully, without each piece being introduced, instead it was part of a whole expression.  Quite an elaborate sight!

My friend from Juneau, David Walker was the Supreme Winner in 2009, and his wooden dress was showcased on the program, as well as on billboards and flyers all over the city.  I got to see David for a few minutes at Te Papa, the NZ National Museum, like out Smithsonian, only better!  David took a third place this year in a new category, and it was great to get an Alaskan hug after being away from home for three weeks.

  The city is full of life and energy, and was a great break from the internship and schoolwork.  It was a social weekend, so that makes it social work related, right?  I enjoy the city life, just as much as the farm life.

Community Mental Health with Andrew

This past week, I was fortunate enough to spend two days with Andrew, a Massey University Social Work graduate, who let me shadow him throughout his busy days.  He explained that they work with the recovery model, which refers to individuals and families/whanau developing skills and strategies that enable them to realize their potential despite the existence of mental ill health (Mental Health Commission, 1998).  He works with a caseload of about 30 people, and fills his days with phone calls to consumers, documentation, scheduling, visits to the home, calls to pharmacies, and partner agencies.  E likened himself to the the "sheep dog clinician" chasing after things, and rounding things up.

Ome observations I noticed:  In this field, knowledge of medications and their effects on someone is extremely important.  Not only did I see Andrew discuss with a psychiatric nurse and psychiatrist, the side effects he observed in consumers, but he also had to interpret what their advice and implications were.  He also provided a good deal of education about meds to the consumer and family during a home visit because they had questions about the tapering off of one medication and the increased agitation that he felt.  Andrew used the analogy of a car-meds are like air in the tire.  They help the car to go, but you still need petrol, motor, key, etc and they aren't the end all, be all.  I appreciated the analogy, and the message it represents.

I also noticed that Andrew was very organized to clearly present information and updates to the multidisciplinary team about his assessment and the risks that he felt concerning his consumers.  I felt really lucky to get a glimpse into a day in the busy life of this skilled Community Mental Health Social Worker.  I also know that I have lots more to learn to feel more confident in this field.

Social Workers Day in Aotearoa

Today was National Social Workers Day in New Zealand.  Palmerston North celebrated this with a lunchtime gathering of the social workers form the Mid-Central Health District Board (43 social workers in the hospital and associated agencies and services), with 18 of us for lunch.  It was a nice gathering, and nice to visit with social workers working in so many different capacities, pediatric social workers, mental health, disability social workers, geriatric social workers, rehabilitation social workers, community based social workers.  Went for a drink after work with several of them and continued our conversations about the differences and similarities in our world perspectives.  I sensed a bit of pride in stating that your profession is a social worker, and it was nice to be with a group of similar minded people.  They were very interested in my impressions so far, and my thoughts on social work in the states.  Two of the women had done some training in California for a few months, and they had their impressions of our social work system and government funded benefits and such.  I will blog about benefits soon.  It is very different over here, at least the bit that I have been exposed to thus far.  No 60 month lifetime limit on TANF or Temporary Assistance.
It was a nice day to connect to others who are working in this field, and dedicated to social justice and all of the other things involved in this profession.
Thank you Mathew for being a great ambassador and field instructor for me!  Here's a photo of us today.