SPINAL NETWORK NEWS

SAMOA
Trip 2013
In 2012, a team of health professionals from New Zealand
travelled to Samoa with the goal of empowering people with
a SCI to manage their health conditions. In August 2013, a
team consisting of many of the same people conducted a
follow-up trip to Samoa to see the people from the previous
year and new clients with a SCI. Again, the aim was to impart
knowledge and education to individuals with a SCI and their
families, to help them manage the consequences of their
injuries. I caught up with three members of that team from
the Burwood Spinal Unit to find out about the experience:
Maria van der Heuvel, a clinical nurse specialist; Marian
Lippiatt, a nurse; and Annie Jones, a physiotherapist. In total,
there were seven members in the team, who all travelled
voluntarily and paid their own way, with some subsidy from
Altus Resource Trust for accommodation.
Maria has visited Samoa for the past three years, but for
Marian and Annie, this was their first time on a trip like this.
For Marian, the key motivation was to impart knowledge
to the individuals with a SCI; their family members; and the
health professionals: “(I wanted) to share knowledge about
bladder management, pressure- area management, and bowel
management… I got a shock at how basic things were,
with no rehabilitation or home visits.” Annie had all always
wanted to do volunteer work and, what really appealed to
her, was the potential to help create long-term change: “it
wasn’t like we were going across and then just coming back;
it sounded like there was a whole programme being set up,
and that really appealed to me – we were trying to build
knowledge and work with the locals.”
The team was in Samoa for just over a week and split into
two groups in order to see as many people as possible in
the short time they were there. Maria said they managed to
spend around an hour with each client. During this trip, Maria
saw the benefits of previous trips: “the majority of people
who were in the new client category last time, are now free
of pressure sores, they’re doing transfers properly, and have
good bowel management. They’re even starting to teach
others with a SCI.” Maria suggests that the individuals in
Samoa are very receptive to knowledge and are very thankful
when the New Zealanders come to visit.
The time available for each visit was limited, and Annie
described the visits as “trying to fit six months of
rehabilitation into 1 or 2 hours.” At the start of each visit,
the team would assess bladder, bowel and skin status, then
discuss the management options available for each of these
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