Clinical support worker Review

I throughly enjoyed my placement. I had a fantastic time during my 6 weeks in Sri Lanka. I was able to get a clinical understanding from a different perspective. This has helped me get jobs in the NHS as the skills are very transferable. I enjoyed being able to travel around Sri Lanka as well.

We were able to live in a compartment house with the other people. This helped me build long lasting friendships with the other people that came on the trip. It was a great support system as well as some of the of things that you would see are emotionally taxing.

We were given cultural awareness presentations and presentations regarding mental health in Sri Lanka. This prepared us for what was to come during the internship fairly well. However, it would have been beneficial for us if they gave us a follow call to see if support was needed after the placement as we were not taught how to deal with a lot of things appropriately.

Extremely busy throughout the day. We visited either half way homes, children's homes, orphanage, learning disability hubs, schools or the national institute of mental health throughout the day. We were also given the Opportunity to create our own resources for the sessions so that would take time during the evenings.

We were given the responsibility of making and organising sessions and resources for particular groups. We were also given the responsibility of ensuring that the activities were risk asssessed and tailored to individual needs. However, more responsibility could have been given. But the experience that was given was extremely rewarding.

I would say that this has helped me secure jobs in this field in England in the NHS. The skills that I have gained are extremely transferable and has made me use alternative strategies to communicate other than using language such as expressive therapy. I have also been able to use evidence based practice in action.

N/a

The organisation was set up very well. We were given booklets before arrival. We were also put in a Facebook page group with other participants and this helped us navigate the system seamlessly. We were also given a timetable to follow which ensured that we got to the right placements on time.

Too short to invest in me

Unsure as I didn't apply.

Very good social scene as everyone was the same age and had the same goals and aspirations. We were able to spend weekends travelling together which was fantastic. I definitely made some long lasting friendships during this internship. Everyone had an interesting background and it was interesting to see different goals.

This trip was extremely expensive. It was around about 2000 pounds to go on to the internship and then we had to bring extra money for travel, food, weekend travel and bus fare in between placements. Even though it was expensive, I would recommend this as the experience is invaluable.

Unable to travel after 9pm due to safety for women in this particular country. This is due to cultural differences in women travelling after dark without a male companion. The nightlife was different, also we weren't able to access alcohol due to the accessibility of this in Sri Lanka. Also I felt unsafe in this country when going on a night out.

There were a lot of extra curricular activities available that you could participate in outside of work. This could be going to a yoga session or a cooking class. There are many opportunities to also learn about mental health, psychology and therapies in a different country which was very interesting.