Social Work Week 2021
Standing with You. Standing for You.
This March over 20,000 Registered Social Workers (RSWs) across Ontario are celebrating Social Work Week. RSWs work alongside Ontarians, providing support for mental health and addictions, health issues, caregiver distress, poverty, grief, and homelessness, to name a few. Complicated with the effects of the pandemic, social workers continue to support Ontarians across communities and settings in chronic and acute care, in homes and in outpatient services, long-term care and palliative care.
This year's Social Work Week theme You Are Not Alone underpins the work of RSWs across various settings, including those supporting Ontarians’ mental health, and will continue to do so as the effects and consequences of the pandemic extend into the future generations. Social workers are helping individuals improve their resilience and wellness, including leveraging technology such as virtual counselling in tandem with unique training and expertise.
The road to wellness is within reach. We know the challenges many of us are facing far too often seem unbearable. It's okay to admit that it's been hard. It's okay to ask for help. You are not alone.
Social Workers Leading Positive Change at QCH: Involvement with the Stoke Team
Social workers on A3 as part of the interdisciplinary stroke team, in addition to completing psychosocial assessments, complete patient health questionnaires (PHQ-9) –a depression screening tool. This tool allows us to identify any changes to stroke patients’ mood and address any concerns by alerting the physician in case any medical intervention is required. We also provide support, counselling resources as needed, discharge planning, and information to help navigate the stroke continuum. We keep up with information and training through the Champlain Regional Stroke Network in order to provide the most up-to-date information and support we can to our stroke patients.
Social Workers Leading Positive Change at QCH: New Outpatient Group
Outpatient Mental Health Social Work collaborated with staff at The Ottawa Hospital, Civic Campus to adapt a Working with Emotions group currently offered at the Civic Hospital. This group is only available to patients followed by QCH psychiatrists. It is a 12 week, once weekly, group program, divided into 3 core modules, each lasting 4 weeks long: Interpersonal Effectiveness, Emotion Regulation and Distress Tolerance. Mindfulness teaching is also included, yet not as a standalone module, but interspersed throughout each of the core areas. The Core Modules teach skills designed to help individuals deal more effectively with their emotions and become more competent in their interpersonal interactions.
Social Workers Leading Positive Change at QCH: Medical Assistance in Dying – A Collaborative Approach
In 2016, the Government of Canada passed Bill C-14 which allows eligible Canadians to access Medical Assistance in Dying. In response, QCH developed a process to support individuals to further explore and pursue this option. From initial assessment to completion, an interdisciplinary team (of physicians, nurses, social workers, spiritual care providers, and administrative staff) work to ensure that patients have the guidance and support required. Social workers play an important role in this process – by helping patients and loved ones to explore their thoughts and feelings about the upcoming death, discussing the logistics around arranging one’s affairs, and helping to navigate the system. While end-of-life care can be hard to think about, our dedicated team of social workers on the Medical Assistance in Dying team are honoured to be able to support the journey. For more information about Medical Assistance in Dying at QCH, please contact our Patient Ombudsman at 613-721-2000, ext. 5655.
Social Workers Leading Positive Change at QCH: Evening Social Work in the Emergency Department
We know that emergencies can happen at any time, and the Emergency Department at QCH is open 24/7 to address all urgent medical needs. While social work has long been available during daytime hours, social work coverage in the evenings has been identified as a need by patients, families, and staff. As a result of time-limited funding for 2019-2020, Emergency Department social workers have been able to continue their coverage into the evenings (until 1100pm, Mondays-Fridays). These extended hours have enabled us to: a) help avoid unnecessary admissions to hospital (i.e. supporting safe discharges to respite at retirement homes, linking to detoxification services at the Ottawa Withdrawal Management Centre, arranging for increased in-home services), b) provide crisis intervention supports when patients/ families are given hard news and c) begin discussions about discharge planning at the start of hospital admission in order to smooth our patients’ transition back home. Feedback from staff and physicians about our increased hours has been extremely positive, with virtually all survey respondents saying that they have found the increased social work hours to positively benefit our patients and families. The social workers in the Emergency Department are extremely proud of the work that they do and look forward to continuing to provide care during your emergency stay.
Note: The examples above were photographed prior to COVID-19