Feeling for Full Life
Daniela ManovaLecturer in Medical College
“Yordanka Filaretova”Medical University
If a person cannot work what he/she loves, they must learn to love what they work. (a Japanese proverb)
In their childhood, people don’t usually choose to work with people with disabilities. It just happens and then a different value system is built.
I started working with children with cerebral palsy in 1990. Since 1995 I have been teaching masseurs with visual impairment.
AIM OF THIS PRESENTATION
• To present the academic and professional training of masseurs with visual impairments which is the only one in Bulgaria
• To present the results of the joint work with Marie Curie Association within Q4S project
TRAINING OF MASSEOURS WITH VISUAL IMPAIRMENTS IN MEDICAL COLLEGE “YORDANKA
FILARETOVA” – SOFIA, BULGARIA
Employment is a key to social integration and is one of the most important ways of combating social
exclusion of people with disabilities and promoting of their independent life and dignity. Therefore one
of the educational goals set for “Masseur with Visual Impairment” major is acquiring of knowledge and skills through which they are socially integrated,
their independence is encouraged and their dignity is preserved.
THIS IS US
HISTORY
• This major has been established through initiative of the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour and Social Policy and Union of the Blind in Bulgaria
• Training started in 1976 and during the first few years students without visual impairments were also trained
• Since 1997 the training course continues for three years and students over 71% disability (loss of working capacity) are accepted
EDUCATION
• Tertiary – “Professional Bachelor” degree
• Form – full time training
• Duration of study – 3 years
• Curriculum – 3350 hours
METHODS OF EDUCATION
• Audio tapes • Lectures and exercises that are visualized through models and enlarged
schemes. When using multimedia and educational videos they are accompanied by a detailed description
• Demonstrations done simultaneously by both trainer’s and student’s hands• Thematic discussions • Workshops• Self-preparation • For educational workshops – working with patients
TRAINING EXERCISE
EXERCISE IN MASSAGE
EXERCISE IN MASSAGE
KINESITHERAPY EXERCISE
PROFESSIONAL COMPETENCES
• To work in massage rooms in rehabilitation hospitals and medical centers
• Sports teams
• Hydropathic offices
• Heat treatment rooms
• Hotels and SPA Hotels – SPA and Wellness
• Fitness clubs
JOINT WORK WITH MARIE CURIE ASSOCIATION WITHIN Q4S PROJECT
• March, 2011 – first meeting
• Results – through the survey made about accessibility and quality of the training environment we got a real assessment for the actual students’ attitude towards the training, teachers, ways of teaching, and organization of the teaching process.
JOINT WORK WITH MARIE CURIE ASSOCIATION WITHIN Q4S PROJECT
• The study of the students’ needs through specialized for people with disabilities website exceeded its goals
• On the basis of the conclusions made, students, trainers and the college have an acquisition – speaking blood pressure measuring apparatus, tape recorders and purchasing of a computer with specialized software for people with disabilities is forthcoming
Website presentation www.q4s.eu – March, 2011
• It provoked excitement and curiosity • It was held in hearty working environment • Students were extremely concentrated • They demonstrated different ways for using of computer – through
large sized font or a magnifier. There were students who did not have computer skills and it was difficult for them to follow the meaning of the text
• Many discussions, questions, comments, recommendations – active involvement
Website presentation www.q4s.eu – March, 2011
Website presentation www.q4s.eu – March, 2011
Website presentation www.q4s.eu – March, 2011
POSITIVE ASPECT
• Rich and varied information material
• Thematically structured and understandable
• Interesting and of great benefit for the students
• Interesting and of great benefit for the trainers especially the part related to skills
• There are links to different ministries and organizations
THE MOST INTERESTING
• Case studies
They provoked different associations and willingness to tell their own stories
THE MOST INTERESTING
• Self-review profiler Connecting individual characteristics of students with a skill
immediately distinguished several groups. Those who could not use a computer were interested in section “ICT Skills”
“Group work” was also interesting especially in combination with visual impairments
The links in this section were visited and there were recommendations for updating the information and including of judo for visually impaired. Other sports, such as goal-ball, chess, and even shooting were also mentioned.
THE MOST INTERESTING
• Useful Information The links there are really useful and additionally extend the
information
• Disability and Skill Guides The option for printing is convenient and can be used at any
time by parents and relatives
RECOMMENDATIONS
• Information for professional realization to be added
• To add links with labour offices and employers
• Workplaces of people with visual impairments to be popularized – for example specialized rehabilitation hospitals or other places as well as the different professions in which traditionally or not visually impaired people are trained
• To create forum
RECOMMENDATIONS
• To extend the age scope for which the website is intended
Information there is useful even for those who are going to make choice for professional realization
Parents can help themselves and their child when they are informed in time for any difficulties and the respective enabling strategies
• To promote the site in medical institutions and by the social workers
SUMMARY
• Students’ opinion for the website and its information was different from the experts’ one
Students searched and found information related to their difficulties
Experts found terminological inconsistencies
SUMMARY
• According to students, who are the real users of the website, it is:
accessible abundant in information necessary provoking lacking in information about professions
CONCLUSIONS
• Contacts and meetings with MCA in one year made the students to rethink their attitude towards learning and to become more responsible
• Students’ participation in the three meetings is outside their curriculum and is expression for their active behaviour
• At the beginning for us, the trainers, it was a real challenge to convince them to participate and to be active
CONCLUSIONS
• Participation in this project improved the trust between teachers/trainers and students and even if this is the only thing we have done, it is too much for these people, who mostly expect to be unnoticed.
• When a person realizes their strengths and their real situation then he/she finds strength to live with all that he/she has and to go ahead.
THANK YOU!
• For ethic and sympathetic attitude of MCA’s team • That the team has a person with visual impairments who does
her work with a smile and this is a hope that it is possible for a person with disability to realize successfully
• For the opportunity for a student in “Masseur” major to participate in National Advisory Group meeting and he was given a chance to express his competent opinion about the software and the accessibility of the website.
THANK YOU!
I WISH YOU SUCCESS AND
LET ALL THAT YOU HAVE SOWN TO SPROUT