WHO CC Intern: Jennifer Parsonage

Jennifer is currently studying a Master of Public health at UTS. She chose to pursue a placement at WHO CC UTS due to her strong interest in maternal and child health and wished to expand her knowledge in this area. Jennifer was also motivated by the chance to contribute to the work of such an important institution in the Pacific Region.

During her time at the Centre Jennifer worked on multiple projects. One of her main objectives was to learn about the process of project development, implementation, and evaluation. She was able to achieve this through her work on the Basic Psychosocial Skills: A Guide for COVID-19 Responders short course that was developed by the Centre. She worked to identify user ability issues before the course went live, created media releases for the course.

Whilst working at the Centre she learned of the challenges faced in Papua New Guinea in particular. Jennifer assisted the academic team during the setup the new program reviewing and development of a national curricula for the Diploma of Nursing and Certificate for Community Health Workers. She assisted the project team with the development of three online continued professional development courses that were being offered to nursing and midwifery staff at the recently redeveloped ANGAU hospital – birthing suites in Papua New Guinea.

Lastly, one of her primary achievements was her literature review regarding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health globally. She conducted a narrative review with a focus on specific impacted populations, risk factors, protective factors and strategies to reduce psychological impacts. This allowed her to then report on the Centre’s Basic Psychosocial Skills course using a data analysis to evaluate the impact.

Jennifer greatly enjoyed her time at the Centre and felt it was invaluable in the professional experience she gained. This placement has affirmed her passion for working in women’s health and she has realised the importance of pursuing a career she is passionate about that will contribute to improving the lives of others. Jennifer would like to thank all of the staff at the Centre for their support and guidance throughout this wonderful placement experience.