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EXCELERATOR
Issue 69, Autumn 2024
Celebrating VHA’s 2024 Client Choice Awards
VHA is made up of caring and committed people who truly want to help and love what they do.
In every role, VHA team members lead with purpose, build bonds that matter, and are passionate about providing high quality care, with great heart, to the communities we serve.
VHA’s annual Client Choice Awards give clients and families an opportunity to nominate and recognize care providers who have really made a difference in their lives.
This year, we received nearly 900 nominations from clients and families across the regions we serve, marking a record high. Our selection committee had the daunting task of selecting 10 winners. The Honourable Mentions category celebrates individuals who have received multiple nominations, including some who are nominated year after year. Congratulations to all 2024 nominees, honourable mentions and awardees!
Breaking the silence: Violence, harassment isn’t ‘just part’ of homecare jobs
For many, working in health care is a calling. In home care, workers know that their work helps people stay in their homes and live as well as possible for as long as possible. Homecare workers often form strong and meaningful bonds with the clients and families they care for, often over long periods.
Unfortunately, the less discussed experience of homecare work is the violence and harassment providers can experience. Exposure to harassment and violence erodes workers’ physical and mental health, decreases job satisfaction and performance, and drives people out of health care.
How Occupational Therapy Can Help with Memory Loss
For individuals living with memory loss from dementia, a brain injury or stroke, forgetting loved ones and losing important memories can be a heartbreaking part of these changes. Memory loss can unfortunately also impact a person’s ability to complete activities of daily living like dressing, bathing, eating and taking medications. This can lead to a loss of independence, significant safety concerns and increased stress levels for caregivers and loved ones.
Occupational therapists (OTs) can play a critical role when memory loss is impacting a person’s daily life. Although a full recovery of cognitive skills is rarely a realistic goal, OTs can minimize the impact of memory loss by supporting independence and improving quality of life for as long as possible.
Closing the Gap Healthcare and VHA Home HealthCare named service provider organizations for new integrated home care program in East Toronto
Ontario Health has named Closing the Gap Healthcare and VHA Home HealthCare as the service provider organizations that will provide home care services for eligible clients in East Toronto as part of a new innovative home care project that will test new ways of providing connected care to patients.
Called the Integrated Neighbourhood Home Care Program, the initiative in East Toronto will provide integrated home care services that improve care integration, enhance care coordination, improve patient outcomes and streamline access to necessary home care resources. The program will launch in Taylor-Massey and Thorncliffe Park, two neighbourhoods in East Toronto where people face health inequities and where there are large populations of seniors and community members with chronic and complex health needs.
The Integrated Neighbourhood Home Care Program is developed and delivered by East Toronto Health Partners (ETHP), the Ontario Health Team (OHT) serving East Toronto. ETHP is one of seven OHTs that have been selected to deliver a program of this nature in partnership with Ontario Health and Ontario Health atHome. This is part of the Ontario Government’s plan to modernize home and community care in the province.
Announcing VHA's 2024 Leadership Awardees
The VHA leadership awards is an annual recognition program to further build and strengthen VHA’s culture of leadership excellence by recognizing individuals at all levels of this organization who demonstrate leadership skills and behaviors on a consistent basis. Recognizing extraordinary leaders, no matter their role in the organization, helps to foster a culture of excellence at VHA which helps make sure we continue to provide the best possible care to our clients and families. Read along to learn more about VHA's three Leadership Award winners for 2024:
Toronto Star: VHA Providing a helping hand to vulnerable families in need of childcare support
For one woman grieving two miscarriages, VHA's Responsive Community Care programming is helping her find hope for the future.
Erzsebet is a 34-year-old mother in Toronto who has 4 children and limited family support. VHA's Helping Hands: Home Support for Families program, funded by the United Way Greater Toronto, provides a helping hands to vulnerable families like Erzsebet's who are in need of child care support.
Betlehem, a child and family worker with VHA provides in-home, hands-on care for Erzsebet's young children 2-3 times per week, allowing Erzsebet to attend appointments, get some much-needed rest and care for her own needs. Thanks to this program, Erzsebet is able to be more active and focused on her children and feels she can more effectively manage her family situation.
The Importance of Having Safety Conversations With Your Healthcare Provider
When people receive healthcare, they want effective care that they can trust to keep them safe and meet their needs. Sometimes, despite best intentions, because the healthcare system depends on human expertise, interaction and knowledge, errors and situations can occur that lead to unintentional harm. Research shows that one in three Canadians have experienced a patient safety incident when receiving care, such as a misdiagnosis or medication error. These incidents can range in severity from minor inconveniences to serious and life-altering consequences.
Clients, or patients and their loved ones, have a valuable role to play in helping to prevent harm by identifying hidden risks, hazards and safety concerns. Evidence continues to demonstrate that when healthcare providers work closely with patients, families and carers, it leads to improved safety, better health outcomes and decision-making. While it may seem that healthcare providers shouldn’t need this assistance, we all play a role in keeping ourselves and our loved ones safe.
One of the most effective ways to prevent harm, whether you are delivering or receiving care, is by having safety conversations.
VHA Research in the News
- AMS Healthcare: VHA's Director of Research is part of AMS Healthcare's Second Cohort of AMS-Fitzgerald Fellowships in AI and Human-Centered Leadership
- American Contact Dermatitis Society Article of the Year Awards: Occupational Hand Dermatitis in Health Care: Development and Evaluation of an Online Training E-Module
- Longwoods Healthcare Papers: Technology, Aging and Home and Community Care: Picking the Right Problems to Solve
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