Reflection on my MSc Degree Student Placement

Fiona Brown: Reflection on my MSc Degree Student Placement

As part of my MSc degree in Global Health, Social Justice and Public Policy at King’s College London I have had the opportunity to gain practical work experience with a local organisation. Age UK Wandsworth provided me with the fantastic opportunity to carry out my student placement within their charity. As part of this placement, I have participated in numerous activities, which have given me valuable work-related knowledge and skills within the charity sector. Every week I helped to co-host Age UK Wandsworth Coffee Morning. This gave me the opportunity to get to know the local clients in a relaxed environment whilst developing my communication and interpersonal skills.

As well as volunteering at Coffee Morning I contributed towards the creation and launch of a new iteration of Age UK Wandsworth Older People’s Advisory Group. This group was created to enable older residents to share their ideas and help to shape community services in the borough. I contributed towards the launch of this group by conducting research into different community organisations supporting older individuals in Wandsworth and working alongside other student volunteers to create discussion strategies and mapping activities to facilitate meaningful conversations amongst community members. By helping to execute this project I gained valuable insights into how community engagement projects are improving the physical and mental health of Age UK Wandsworth clients and how challenges to accessing services can be addressed.

My student placement with Age UK Wandsworth has provided me with the invaluable opportunity to gain practical knowledge of how charitable community engagement projects can help to reduce health inequalities for older individuals. During my time studying, I have been able to examine and analyse this knowledge within relevant scholarship related to Global Health, Social Justice and Public Policy. For example, I have directly observed how the ‘social determinants of health’ can be addressed through empowering local older community members to co-design community engagement services in relation to their specific health needs. Furthermore, through co-hosting coffee mornings, I have witnessed how strong social networks can increase social participation, reduce social isolation, and improve mental well-being, all of which will help to address the social determinants of health related to social support. Therefore, the placement has been useful in providing real life examples of how healthcare concepts studied on my degree can tackled within a local social care charity organisation.

I would like to thank the staff at Age UK Wandsworth for providing me with the fantastic opportunity to gain valuable insights into the organisational working environment of a local charity. I would highly encourage other students seeking placements to get in touch with Age UK Wandsworth.