News Archive

This semester sees older adults from residential aged care Bethanie Joondanna joining the ranks of first year Master of Social Work students as fellow learners on campus. On Monday mornings seven residents, up to 89 years old, have pens poised for note-taking to increase their knowledge of communication processes.

This is an outcome of the Beyond the Teaching Nursing Home: Community Partnership of Learning and Care program, which is a community partnership between the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences at UWA and Bethanie, Joondanna. These and other residents also participate with Social Work students in the Social Work interpersonal practice workshops, which are held at Bethanie Joondanna three times a week.

“This is a tremendous learning opportunity for both students and residents,” said Assistant Professor Karen Upton-Davis of the School of Population Health, who teaches the Interpersonal Practice stream and coordinates the Introduction to Social Work Methods unit. “Students report the value of interacting with real people as well as having an opportunity to feel familiar and comfortable with an age group that social workers will increasingly find themselves working with due to the ageing population in Australia. The residents, on the other hand, are delighted to interact with younger people and have a genuine interest in broadening their knowledge and expertise of communication processes.”

Together, the students and residents learn various communication processes including active listening techniques, how to manage anger and other difficult emotions, how to be assertive and resolve conflict as well as Strength Based Practices such as Brief Solution Focussed Therapy. Participating in the learning activities increases self-awareness, confidence and ability for both students and residents.

In an expanding program, this is the third year that Bethanie residents have assisted in enhancing the learning experiences of Social Work students.  “We eagerly await the results of the evaluation of the Social Work partnership project which is presently being conducted; the findings will be available later in the year. Judging from the pride shown by residents when welcomed to their first day at University and the crowd of caring students waiting to assist the residents in and out of the maxi-taxi, I have every confidence in positive results”, said Asst/Prof Upton-Davis.

Media references

Fiona Maley (SPH Marketing and Research Coordinator) (+61 8) 6488 1299

David Stacey (UWA Media and Public Relations Manager) (+61 8) 6488 3229 / (+61 4) 32 637 716