On the second day of training, students of the Faculty of Health and Physical Education of Uzhhorod National University worked with three lecturers from Switzerland. Each of them presented different aspects of the work of a specialist caring for people with disabilities.
Hana Kubinets, a health professional and social educator (HFL), spoke about the specifics of the institution where she works: the daily routine of the inhabitants and staff, the specifics of their mutual communication, the responsibilities of employees, and the task of the institutions for people with disabilities.
The practical part of the training involved tasks in groups. The students have been explained the content of such areas of professional activity as daily support, service planning, and work of contact persons. For her part, Hana Kubinets emphasised the specifics of the implementation of these professional functions in Switzerland.
Pius Schürch-Kunz, a social worker with 35 years of experience, spoke about the formation, development and current state of social work.
“Our social workers have come a long way in terms of both training at universities and in developing a special professional code, which they still follow. Our work includes counselling for people with disabilities, drug addicts, and the elderly, social work with families and young people, etc. Our therapeutic proposals are mediation, victim assistance, counselling for addicts, i.e. a social worker is a universal worker who must adapt to the problems and needs of society. Of course, this is my personal experience and also practices, which are followed in Switzerland. In Ukraine, this may be a completely different story: both in terms of legislation, and in terms of financing the industry, as well as in the context of training specialists. However, I believe that any area of interaction with people can expand its capabilities, resources, and skills. That is why we are talking about examples that you, as future specialists, can follow in your work, "said the Swiss specialist, who also highly estimated the level of education of students in Uzhhorod.
The second training day ended with a report by a special education teacher Henny Graf, who spoke to the audience about the humanistic concept of man as an integral part of the implementation of professional services provided to persons with disabilities and special educational needs.
It should be noted that the students of the five-day course are not only students of Uzhhorod National University, but also workers of specialised institutions of Zakarpattia, including Social Abilitation and Rehabilitation Centre "Parasolka", Vilshansky Orphanage, Transcarpathian Regional Sanatorium for Children "Malyatko", and two specialists from Vynnytsia.
You can read about the first day of training here.