AMPANS welcomed this week a group of eleven students of the Postgraduate Course of Mental Health and Wellbeing in people with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities of the Andrés Bello University of Chile. They are professionals in the field of healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities who have spent a week of training in various services and centres of the AMPANS foundation.
The project is part of the collaboration initiated by La ginesta – Centro de Salud mental y discapacidad Intelectual, in Chile, and the AMPANS Foundation, to host the internships of the postgraduate students of the Chilean university and provide the knowledge of the Bages entity in the approach to behavioural disorders associated with intellectual disability.
The team of behavioural experts from the AMPANS Foundation has accompanied the students in a theoretical and practical training. The 11 students of the Diploma in Mental Health and Intellectual Disability of the Andrés Bello University of Chile, have been able to learn about the model of care of AMPANS, and have been distributed through the services of the entity: the school Jeroni de Moragas, the residence and school for children and teenagers with autism Els Companys, the services of the Occupational Centre La Llum (Santpedor), La Sagrera (Sant Fruitós), L’Encaix (Sant Vicenç) and Teixint Valors (Sant Joan), the residential services Julio Payás and Comtals, and the residential homes. The training had 4 pathways according to speciality: housing itinerary, school, services for adults and services related to mental health.
Paulina Varas, psychologist and Director of the Postgraduate in Mental Health and Wellbeing of People with Intellectual Disabilities, is the coordinator of this internship. She leads the project with the aim that professionals from Chilean entities can learn and collect good practices implemented in AMPANS for the wellbeing of people with intellectual disabilities. Varas highlights the comprehensive care throughout the life cycle, through tailored services designed based on needs, whose ultimate goal is to maximise the autonomy of the people accompanied.