Helping Hand for health students

by Kelly Stone

Podiatry student Clement Ting is among the first of UniSA’s Health Science students benefiting from a new $1.8 million project between UniSA and Helping Hand Aged Care.

Funded by the Department of Health and Ageing under the Increased Clinical Training Capacity Grant, the project will facilitate clinical education to 110 students undertaking nursing, physiotherapy, pharmacy, physiotherapy, podiatry, occupational therapy and exercise physiology degrees at UniSA, initially through to the end of 2011.

Students will be able to experience interprofessional learning and innovative practice when undertaking clinical placements at Helping Hand Aged Care sites in both metropolitan and regional South Australia – at North Adelaide, Ingle Farm, Parafield, Mawson Lakes, and Port Pirie, Clare and Jamestown. They will also have the opportunity to practise from a mobile health clinic which will be based at Port Pirie with outreach to other rural areas from early next year.

Clement has gained valuable hands-on experience in the aged care sector during his five-week clinical placement with Helping Hand Aged Care North Adelaide.

He says the placement has given him a great insight into what it’s like to work in the aged care sector, and he will consider working in aged care when he finishes his degree at the end of the year.

“I’ve really enjoyed the placement with Helping Hand and I’ve already been looking at jobs in aged care for when I finish my degree,” he says.

UniSA’s Dean of Health and Clinical Education, Professor Esther May, says many students will benefit from learning in an aged care organisation that is very client-centred and embraces students as valued participants in the workplace.

“Through gaining experience in interprofessional activity, students will gain a better understanding of working as a team, with the clients being an important member of that team, which results in safer and higher quality care,” she says. “Over the longer term, this project will help provide work-ready professionals who are keen to work in the aged care sector, which is going to be increasingly important with Australia’s ageing population.”

Prof May says students will gain experience in a wide variety of areas such as mobility training, rehabilitation, skin integrity, nutrition, medication management, lifestyle assessment and equipment and aids to name a few.

“Most importantly, the students will also participate in providing services under supervision, as part of a team, in residential and community settings, in the city and rurally,” she says.

“They will be assessed on key competencies and graduate qualities relevant to their future practice as health professionals.”