Fieldwork Experiences, Essay Example

My first fieldwork was on Tuesday the 19^th of January.  The first day largely entailed a visit to the library together with our residents and the group leader, an experienced peer educator. This was an important and unique first experience with a considerable number of individuals. I had never worked with such a population before. Initially, I was apprehensive about engaging in the activity altogether; I was not sure I was able to meet the expectations required on the job. However, after the first day at work, my general perspective towards the activities changed.

The highlight of the day was a saddening scene that highlighted the general lack of consideration from most individuals. One resident, who was quietly minding their own business was insulted by a passing individual who claimed to have spotted the resident staring at them. In my opinion, this kind of behavior is uncalled for. In the heat of the moment, I contemplated getting involved, but resorted to saying nothing as it became apparent the residents were a lot smarter than this individual. Everything about the resident’s behavior and response to the situation depicted a great deal of humility and wisdom.This situation helped me notice the existence of stigma everywhere.

Individuals within society have to give consideration to the mentally ill. I believe that mental illness is the same as any kind of illness, an anomaly within the biological and/physiological processes within the human body. Treatment towards the ill should be the same across the board, with more consideration given to individuals with sensitive illnesses, especially mental illnesses. This incident did not cause any considerable disruption to the residents as everything went back to normal as soon as we arrived back from the library.

Fieldwork today marked a considerable milestone in the development process of all the residents. While most resident do not usually take part in the weekly cleaning, all of them opted to join in the weekly cleaning today. This group activity was essential in depicting their level of development with treatment. Another astounding achievement was experienced with one particular resident. They had initially expressed their desire to take the bus all by themselves. He managed to accomplish this task with a trip to the mall. They successfully made it to the mall and back unassisted and without any incident. This has significantly boosted the resident’s self-esteem, a fact that they mentioned in their IMR group.

This milestone is engrained the goals and objective of project live. The project is built on the foundation of realizing self-sufficiency amongst the residents. In order to achieve this project live engages the residents in activities that would help them gain confidence to rely on themselves and those around them to grow into holistic individuals. I believe this is essential in helping them engage with the real world more frequently, being well aware of their environment to help them sustain an independent lifestyle. Activities such as group walks help them stay active and manage their weight.

Another significant event today was with one resident who walked into the office and requested for their medication. Furthermore, they managed to do this at the exact time designated for taking their medication. This surprised the staff member on duty at the time, noting that this was a significant milestone towards the development of the resident.