On Wednesday 19 June, the University of Roehampton, London hosted a taster session for the future I-CAN programme, commencing Wednesday 3 July. The session gave prospective students the opportunity to meet the I-CAN team, explore the facilities on campus, take part in practical activities and find out more about the support available.
The new programme, Initiating and Supporting Care Leavers into Apprenticeships in Nursing (I-CAN) aims to support young adults who have lived in care, inspiring them to follow a career in healthcare. The programme is supported by the South West London Integrated Care Board. An 8-week course, the programme will deliver practical sessions to prepare learners for their future career in health care. The sessions include an introduction to health and social care, equality and diversity, duty of care, safeguarding, person centred care, infection control, basic life support and communication skills.
Roehampton launched I-CAN in May, since then, over 25 referrals have been received and 13 of those have signed up to our first course starting on Wednesday 3rd July 2024 at Roehampton University. The taster session was led by I-CAN Trainer and Nursing Lecturer, Scott Rodden and Philip Mills, Roehampton’s I-CAN Manager, and included talks by Dr Jose Magalhaes, Head of Research and Knowledge Exchange Development and 2nd year Adult Nursing Student, Aoife. Dr Aleata Alstad-Calkins, Director of Student Support and Success gave a talk about student support at Roehampton, and tutor Rasmos Tagoe spoke about embedding functional skills.
An attendee from the taster session commented: "A very interesting course, great support and direction. I personally enjoyed the taster day and I feel prepared for a new career. I would like to say that the team has been great, and they provided exceptional care, time and energy in preparing this course for everyone... it was excellent, very informative and delivered in a professional manner".
Contact the I-CAN team via I-can@roehampton.ac.uk for any enquiries and connect with the team through LinkedIn, X and Instagram.