Yumaro Welcomes Occupational Therapy Work Placement Students

by Kylie Brantingham Yumaro is delighted to welcome Josephine and Elena, two Occupational Therapy Students on placement from the University of Canberra (UC). They have been helping at Yumaro to provide capacity building services within our employment supports, housing and learning programs for the last month now and will be continuing for another few weeks.

Above: Elena and Josephine - Yumaro's OT Work Placement Students from UC

Occupational therapy enables people to participate in activities that they find meaningful. These activities include taking care of oneself (and others), working, volunteering, and participating in hobbies, interests and social events.

Occupational Therapists can support people whose health or disability makes it hard for them to do the things they would like to do, need to do or are expected to do. An occupational therapist can identify their strengths and difficulties, help with solutions, and help them to take part in everyday life.

Above: Yumaro's participants walking along the beach on their regular walking activity

Some examples of areas in which Occupational therapists provide support to people with a disability are:

· Cooking

· Shopping

· Surfing

· Gardening

· Driving

· Knitting

· Bushwalking

Josephine and Elena are extremely passionate about the idea of being Occupational Therapy practitioners once they have graduated from UC. They have seen the need and demand for OTs in Australia and want to help people living with a disability to become more independent in their daily lives.

Above: Elena and Lucas preparing Yumaro's Bunnings' Cloths to be overlocked

Below: Heidi, Josephine and Tyler cooking homemade sausage rolls for Yumaro's Yummy Café

Josephine is in her second year of the master's program at UC and will graduate mid-next year. “I am a country kid and I’m enjoying the fresh air and beautiful scenery at Moruya. I hope to work rurally when I graduate,” says Josephine who is also a rural scholarship recipient. The NSW Rural Allied Health Undergraduate/ Entry-level Scholarship is offered to students from rural backgrounds studying to become allied health professionals. They are valued at up to $10,000 and recipients are encouraged to seek employment in rural areas once they graduate.

Elena is in her second year of her Bachelor’s degree of Occupational Therapy and is very excited about taking this next step in her career. “There is something profound about what we do! As Occupational Therapy students, we are working towards understanding what influences our everyday activities and how we can make them better!

“For these reasons, we are so impressed with the work that is being done by Yumaro to create these opportunities for a life filled with meaning and purpose! We are always so excited when we walk into the workshop and see so many lives impacted by the power of doing.

“We would like to give special thanks to the staff who have welcomed us with such kindness and encouragement for our learning.”

Above: Having fun out-and-about

CEO Mark Brantingham said, “Yumaro gives people with a disability greater independence in their life. Josephine and Elena have been a wonderful asset to our team - their skills have helped our participants to grow in their work, live more independently and importantly get a bit more fun out the everyday!”

Josephine and Elena are doing a wonderful job and it's been such a pleasure to see their positive interactions with all the staff, participants and volunteers. Everyone at Yumaro enjoys their company and especially their beautiful smiles which they bring to work every day.