Primary Outreach Services- Downtown East Side
Through working with the social workers, I have been provided with many opportunities to think about the lessons the courses had taught me and truly understand the meanings behind them. (Advocacy & Marginalization)
I am fortunate to grow up in a family that is quite financially well off and have not been exposed to people living in poverty. It profoundly impacted me when I saw the living conditions of people living in poverty (DTES) during outreach.
We discussed in class about marginalization, and this experience showed me the complexity of marginalization. It is true that the poor have less access to health, education and other services. Problems of hunger, malnutrition, diseases, mental illness, drug-use afflict the poorest in the society. They are typically marginalized from the society and have little representation or voice in public and political debates, which results in harder potentials to escape poverty.
I saw with my own eyes today how many factors and issues co-exist, as well as how they add-up to create poverty and affect people living in poverty. I began appreciating all the systems, programs and professionals in Canada that are designated to advocating and helping these marginalized people.
I also learned about how I can better manage individuals with mental illness and those that are under drug influence.
My preceptor (a nurse) provided me with some strategies that he found practical and useful. These strategies include practicing empathy, showing respect, and not taking things personally. At the end of the day, we need to respect the choices people made for themselves by knowing that those are their life decisions, not ours.
These strategies are practical and allowed me to understand the importance of setting up appropriate boundaries, while being able to show empathy. For instance, we encountered a lady who got agitated and upset for waiting too long in the clinic. The staff in the clinic handled this situation with professionalism and confidence, while prevented the situation to escalate to a worse level. This staff showed empathy towards the lady and did not take the assaults personally. I found this experience truly educational.
I felt more confident in handling situations similar to this and working with people with mental illnesses.