Wednesday (Day 5): In the morning, I attended a meeting with the management team of the Regional Trauma Network to learn more about their work! Afterwards, I had free time for the rest of the day, so I decided to begin exploring the city of Belfast!
I began my exploration with a trip to the Ulster Museum, which is located in the Botanic Garden near Queen’s University. The museum had free entry (which was surprising because there are so many amazing exhibits), so I spent a few hours leisurely looking at the art galleries and the science exhibitions. On the bottom 2 floors, they showcased objects and relics from European and Global history; they even had a real Egyptian mummy on display! Afterwards, I headed over to the Palm House, which is also located in the Botanic Garden. The Palm House is a lovely little greenhouse full of all sorts of different plants – the place reminded me of my mom who loves to garden 👩🏻🌾
I then left the Botanic Garden and headed North to see Belfast City Hall and the Grand Opera House. It was a LOT of walking, but the journey was nice because I was able to peer into little bookstores on the street, grab local coffee, and enjoy some food! I also got to see the campus of Queen’s University for the first time today, and it was absolutely beautiful!
Even though Belfast is a much smaller city than Buenos Aires, I am super excited to continue exploring all of the great sights left here to see!
Friday (Day 7): I have spent some more time speaking with and learning from the wonderful people at the Regional Trauma Network (RTN) and their partner organizations. I wanted to record a few of my thoughts because I am so impressed and surprised at the quality of the trauma care system in Northern Ireland.
One aspect that I think is really amazing about the RTN is how comprehensive the network is in multiple dimensions.
First, the network is established across the entire country; they have multiple trusts with teams set up to cover different regions of Northern Ireland. At the same time, the regional teams seem to be very well connected. For example, the meeting that I attended Thursday morning involved all of the team leads across the different trusts discussing their plans and concerns together.
Second, the network actively implements the practice of co-production in the development and delivery of their services. In other words, they exchange information, activity, and service users with other organizations/programs, such as those at the community level. Co-production is a really interesting and powerful phenomenon in the Northern Ireland healthcare sphere that I hope to learn more about. I couldn’t help but compare this model of healthcare to that which I have experienced in the United States…
Finally, the RTN is comprehensive in that the network is consistently developing/refining itself. They are constantly asking questions such as: Is this treatment method effective? Are we doing our patients any good? I think that this process of continuous reflection within the organization is critical to ensure that a service remains centered around the patients/clients rather than only the providers.
Overall, I am learning so much from my experiences here. I am beginning to better understand how trauma is treated and understood in Northern Ireland, and I am reexamining the contexts in which my previous understandings of trauma and mental health have developed.
Thanks for reading ❣️