Margaret McGrath joined the Occupational Therapy Department at NUI Galway in October 2006. Prior to taking up this position she worked as a senior occupational therapist in age related health care at the Adelaide and Meath Hospital Dublin, incorporating the National Children’s Hospital, Tallaght. Margaret obtained a BSc (Hons) in Occupational Therapy from the University of Dublin, Trinity College and an MSc in Rehabilitation Studies from University College Dublin.She is currently pursuing her PhD at the National University of Ireland, Galway. Her focus is on occupational therapy and health promotion for older adults.  Margaret is interested in the potential for Occupational Therapy to contribute to community development and in collaboration with her colleagues in Occupational Therapy at NUI Galway has established the first service learning programme for occuaptioanl therapy students in the Republic of Ireland. She is currently undertaking research in collaboration with Ms. Ruth Mc Menamin (Speech and Language Therapy) to explore the impact of service learning on students, community partners and University staff.

Community Partners:  Previous partners have included: MS Society, Galway Simon Community, Galway Hospice Foundation, RehabCare, COPE Services, The Alzheimer Society of Ireland, and AIDS West.
 

‘The Emerging Areas of Occupational Therapy Practice Module’ enables students to work in collaboration with a range of community organisations in order to address the occupational therapy needs of individuals and groups wihtin the Galway city and county region, who ordinarily do not have access to occupational therapy services. The services provided by occupational therapy students vary depending on the individual needs identified by the community organisations and their client groups. The primary aim of each of the interventions is to promote occupational performance and occupational engagment of individual service users. Examples of occupational therapy services offered in 2008/2009 include Stress Managment Workshops for People with Epilepsy, Fatigue Management Workshops for people with Multiple Sclerosis, Independent Living Skills for individuals within Resettlement Projects, Goal Setting for Individuals within Emergency Homelessness Services. Additionally students have worked with staff in the each of the organisations to provide training and support in the use of environmental modifications, cognitive rehabilitation strategies, goal setting etc.

Throughout the module students are required to attend weekly professional supervision sessions with a member of the academic staff, and to participate in fortnightly group tutorials. During these tutorials students have the opportunity to reflect on their learning, engage in peer support and solution focused problem solving. Students are also required to maintain individual reflective logs and to engage with literature relating to occupational therapy and civic engagement.

Ruth McMenamin graduated from the University of Ulster at Jordanstown in 1996 with a 1st class honours degree in BSc Speech and Language Therapy. Her first clinical post was within a care position in the Midland Health Board, she was subsequently appointed as an A/Senior position in Tullamore General Hospital within a year of her graduation.  In 1997 she joined the team in the Mater Misericor-diae Hospital where she gained experience across all clinical areas in the acute care setting. She continued her professional development by participating in ongoing training throughout her clinical career. She was appointed Senior in Neurology in 1999 in the area of Spinal Injury until 2004.  In 2003, Ruth completed an MSc in Health Informatics at Trinity College Dublin and she left the Mater in 2004 to take up her present post lecturing in acquired communication and swallowing disorders at NUI Galway.

Community Partners: Speech and Language Therapy Department, Galway, HSE, People  living with aphasia after acquired brain injury in the Galway Region.

In 2005/2006 a Service Learning module was designed for the undergraduate Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) curriculum and NUI Galway. SLT students are trained as conversation partners and matched with people with aphasia living in the local community. Aphasia is an acquired communication disorder caused by brain damage. It is characterised by an impairment of language modalities speaking, listening, reading and writing (Chapey, 2001). One of the most disabling consequences of aphasia is the way that it excludes the person from conversation (Rayner and Marshall 2003). Students’ weekly conversational visits link community service with academic study and result in a new understanding of Aphasia. Preliminary evaluation over the past two years suggests that the Aphasia Outreach Module has positively impacted students and community partners. Students have reported that the skills developed during their Service Learning module will benefit their clinical skills across client groups and settings. Community partners are very positive about the university-community collaboration and the opportunity to engage with students. Service Learning as a pedagogical approach is also supported by academic staff. The aphasia outreach module has now been embedded as a core component in the SLT curriculum at NUI, Galway.

 

For full module description download here:  English - Irish

Special Study Option in Community Learning - Teaching Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation to School Children

 

This Special Study Option will enable students to learn how to perform Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and how to devise and deliver a teaching workshop so that they themselves will be able to teach the skill.  Liaising with local national schools they will plan and deliver CPR training workshops for fifth and sixth class children.   Teaching Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation to School Children is a real opportunity for students to make a difference.  It gives students a chance to share their medical knowledge in a tangible way long before they graduate.  They will benefit from having to hone their organisational and communication skills, practice their use of Irish, presentation skills and develop reflective practice and give them an opportunity to teach a vital life skill to members of the public.

 

School of Nursing and Midwifery

Nursing in the Developed and Developing Worlds

 

Dr. Dympna Casey (RGN, BA, MA) is a registered general nurse with expertise in care of the elderly and working in developing countries. She has worked in several different cultures including Australia, Sudan, Kosovo and Angola and most recently as a primary health care programme co-coordinator in Africa.  Currently she is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Nursing & Midwifery at the National University of Ireland Galway.  Her specialist subjects include service learning, health promotion and research.   She teaches across a range of programmes from Diploma to Master’s level and supervises students undertaking research dissertations at postgraduate and PhD level.  Her research interests include issues relating to service learning, culture and health, chronic illness, health promotion, and care of the elderly.

Participants: Up to 30 students
Hours: 100 hours subdivided into 25 hours lectures/seminars and then 4 weeks service learning placement in a national or international community setting
Credits: 3 Ects

Length: Theoretical content delivered over one semester and a service learning placement takes place during summer period
Community Partners: Ranchoid Hospice, Kabwe, Zambia;  Ortum Mission Hospital, Ortumn Kenya;  Our Lady’s Hospice Lusaka Zambia;  Mpongwe Mission Hospital, Zambia and  Leprosy Clinic Ho, Ghana

The School of Nursing & Midwifery, through ‘Nursing in the Developed and Developing Worlds’ offers students a service learning exploration, either in Ireland or abroad, on how aspects of culture influence the health of individuals as well as the delivery of health care. The module is delivered through 25 hours of theoretical content plus up to four  weeks placement in a national or international setting. Predominantly students have chosen to undertake their service learning in Africa, namely Ghana, Zambia and Kenya. During their service learning experience students have worked with local communities in health outreach clinics, Leprosy clinics and in hospices caring for HIV+ clients. Students explore the concept of culture in its broadest sense, including ethnicity, professional and informal care delivery, Western and other approaches to health care, and how cultural differences can affect the healthcare professional in everyday practice.