The day started off with the usual nerves and of course what to wear as I couldn’t rock up in my usual jeans and jumper. Upon arrival I phoned up to where the public health team lived and was greeted with the lovely Gill who took me to where I needed to be I was then greeted by Alice who described her role within the department and told me what would be happening throughout the day.
The morning consisted attending a workshop around Gateshead Suicide prevention plan, an area that is not only close to me on a personal level but one that crosses my working life and one that needs to be tackled. I got stuck in with the conversations around the tables where each one looked at different action points, putting forward not only my thoughts around suicide, and how things could change but spoke about the role of a service navigator and the aims of the programme to those who had not heard of Fulfilling Lives.
In the afternoon I had the privilege of meeting various members of the team in half hour slots where they spoke about their role within the team, each of them brought something knowledgeable that I could easily link to the client group that Fulfilling lives work with. Whether it was something that covered general health and wellbeing, sexual health, drugs and alcohol, older people and those in the 0-19 age group (with the age range for the FL programme being 18+).
The day ended with lots of food for thought following my day with the Public Health team. Seeing how each team work in collaboration not only together but alongside other agencies within the morning activities, to how decisions are arrived at and affect each part of life without us even realising. It also instilled just how important it is that agencies work together regardless of the sector setting to improve life for not only the individuals that we work with but the population as a whole.
The opportunity that I had been given on this day has made me re-look at areas within my work practice where I can improve and has given me a better understanding on how decisions are made. Additional to that it has made me re look at where my academic life will lead to gain an even better understanding and maybe just one day being one of the team that make the decisions that can change a system for the better.
