EUROCOM Project Week in Kuopio/ Finland 17.03 - 23.03.2013

A report from the German delegation: 1. Anja Schabram / Hildesheim 2. Christian Schubert / Hildesheim 3. Ellen Haberland / Hildesheim 4. Hans Grimmelmann / Sulingen

  Day 1 / Scandic Hotel in Kuopio

Day 1 / Sunday We, Ellen and Anja took a train from Hildesheim on Sunday morning. We met Hans later on our way to Hamburg. We took a suburban train to the airport and spent some time there. Our plane took off at midday and brought us to Helsinki, where we met Christian, as he had flown from Berlin. Our plane took off at midday and brought us to Helsinki. There we had to wait for our plane to Kuopio. We arrived safely in the evening and already met some other participants at the airport. We have been accommodated at the Scandic Hotel in Kuopio. Later in the evening we went to a restaurant nearby and had a lovely dinner.

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  Day 2 / Savo Vocational College, Social, Health and Sports in Kuopio

Day 2 / Monday On the next morning, there was a reception at Savon Ammatti Ja Aikui with welcoming speeches given by the headmistress and Päivi Nuutinen. After that, Anni Karttunen, an expert on the European Educational Policy, told us some interesting facts about ECVET in vocational education and how she helps Finnish vocational schools to understand the trans-national policy, in this case - within the EU, and how it relates to the national policy within the State of Finland. Moreover, Päivi Nuutinen presented the timetable of the EUROCOM project week and talked about its aims. After lunch we were introduced to the Finnish Education System and learned about the vocational qualifications of a practical nurse. Two nursing students told us about their experience while studying.

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Days 3 and 4 / Tuesday and Wednesday The following two days were spent shadowing at our individual work placements.

  Day 3 and 4 / Tapestry done by a disabled woman with DS

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Anja Schabram was at Maljapuro Service Home which provides three different services for adults with special needs. They have a day centre with three different groups where people from the surrounding area can spend their days. And they run two residence homes for people with mental retardation and different levels of dependency. Address: Maljapuro Service Home / Museokatu 16 / 70100 Kuopio http://www.nollaenergia.fi/mediapankkikuopio.php (This is only the website of a housing association! But you can see pictures of the new apartment house where 45 disabled adults live.) http://goo.gl/maps/M183U

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  Day 3 and 4 / Family Home Suomalainen

   

  Day 3 and 4 / Family Home Suomalainen

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  Day 3 and 4 / Family Home Suomalainen - Ponies nearby, part of therapy

  Day 3 and 4 / a llama held by the inhabitants of the Family Home Suomalainen

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  Day 3 and 4 / Family Home Suomalainen

Christian Schubert was at Family Home Suomalainen which is a place where people with special needs live. Christian worked on a farm, which is located 6 km north of Kuopio in the middle of a forest. There, 24 disabled people are living in three houses. This private organization operates on the "Green Care" principle, which means that they work very close to nature. The clients are doing general farm work, for example in animal production and in planting and harvesting of fruits and vegetables. Address: Vuokko Suomalainen, toimitusjohtaja / Rantaviita 2 / 70420 Kuopio http://www.kotisuomalainen.fi/fi/ http://goo.gl/maps/2FECE

  Day 4 and 4 / Harjula Hospital

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Ellen Haberland was at Harjula Hospital which is located at the lake of Savilahti. The hospital consists of an acute health care hospital unit, Lehtola, and a hospital unit in the historical building of Kivelä. There are 10 hospital wards with approximately 260 patients and an outpatient clinic. Harjula hospital is a place where elderly people live permanently (ward 6 - 9) or come in for care of a shorter period (ward 10). Ward 1 is a follow up treatment ward for patients with diabetes, cardio-vascular diseases and dementia. Ward 2 is for internal and geriatric patients. Ward 4 is for neurological patients and rehabilitation and ward 5 is an orthopaedic and surgical unit. Address: Harjula Hospital Niuvantie 4 / P.O. Box 38 / 70101 Kuopio

 

Day 3 and 4 / Main entrance of Kuopio University Hospital

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Hans Grimmelmann was at Kuopio University Hospital which is the biggest hospital in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland  with about 750 patients. All disciplines are offered. We had the opportunity to get a closer look at the management and organisation of the clinical education. Apprenticeship and advanced training is a very important request of the institution. The hospital has developed a convincing system to attend and support the nurses as well as the students. Due to the clinical teachers of nursing and the mentorship the entire staff is incorporated and very much motivated to accompany the students. Foreign students are warmly welcomed. Address: Kuopio University Hospital / Puijonlaaksontie 2 / P.O. Box 1777 / 70210 Kuopio http://verkkoinfo.kuh.fi/index.asp?tz=-1

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  Day 5 / A “must read” for all visitors who have never experienced Finish winter.

  Day 5 / Practice Nurse room

Day 5 / Thursday We met at 9 o’clock at Savon Ammatti Ja Aikuisopisto, which is a consortium for education, located in Kupio. There, we were introduced to the SOTENET network. SOTENET network was established in 2000 and it consists of nine secondary-level vocational social and health care colleges in different parts of Finland. The aim of the network is to develop the international work within the social and health care sector in cooperation with foreign partners in training institutions and work life. After that, every country stated their established partnerships with other European countries and gave some information about possible work placements for foreign students. 8   

Next, we did a tour through the school, which is a large and very impressive institution. The school offers a huge variety of training courses in the fields of Social Care, Health Care and Nursing. The number of practise rooms is remarkable and the rooms are well equipped as the picture above shows. After lunch every international team wrote a profile about their visited institution and after that we got our Certificates of Attendance. In the evening we went back to school and had a lovely dinner with lots of Finish specialities, mainly fish varieties. One of the highlights of the dinner was a dish called Kalakukko, a regional fish pastry. All the food was prepared by students, who had done an excellent job. Furthermore, we were listening to some traditional songs, which were sung by a local choir. Three German students, who are currently in Kuopio for their work placement, were also invited and told us about their experience. After the official part, some of us went to a local pub to visit a concert.

  Day 6 / Kuopio City Hall (built 1882–1886)

Day 6 / Friday We went on a sightseeing tour of the city and studied some lovely architecture of the nineteenth century as well as some modern architecture. Kuopio is a city located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of approximately 100.000 makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. Furthermore, the city is surrounded by Lake Kallavesi, and several parts of it are built on islands. Moreover, Kuopio is known as a strong center of health (e.g. it has the biggest yearly enrollment rate of medical students in Finland). The sightseeing tour ended at the Puijo Tower. It is a 75 metres high observation tower. The tower opened in 1963 and has a revolving restaurant with 100 seats. For lunch we had deliciously tender elk. After lunch we split up: some of us went back to the hotel, others did some shopping.

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  Day 7 / Christian, Anja, Ellen and Hans before departure at Kuopio’s airport

Day 7 / Saturday Finally, it was time to leave the Nordic country. On Saturday, early in the morning, we took a taxi to the airport and there we said farewells to our colleagues from Belgium, the Netherlands, Sweden and Greece. We hope we will meet some of them again soon. One of us has already arranged to come back to Kuopio this summer. That illustrates that we have found some new friends there. On our way home we reflected that the EUROCOM week had gone well. We have met inspiring people and learnt a lot about Finish culture, the Finish education system and how different kinds of healthcare providers are organized. Last but not least, now we have a very clear idea of what our students can learn during a work placement in Finland. A thousand thanks to our host Päivi Nuutinen and her team for seven very inspiring days in Kuopio!

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