Inside the Circle – November 15 2022

On Friday, we publicly announced our most recent Accreditation survey results – we are once again Accredited with Exemplary Standing! We met every required organizational practice (ROP) and are 100 per cent compliant with applicable standards of client safety, quality, and excellence. Once again, thanks everyone for their hard work!

Special Gift of Points Awarded to All Staff

A special gift of points will be placed in your Applause account for this achievement.  If you have not yet activated your account, please do so for an opportunity to redeem your points for items or gift cards

Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD) is a type of depression that occurs during the same season each year. It usually happens in the fall or winter months, and can be caused by changes in the level of exposure to sunlight. As we have just adjusted our clocks, we are entering a period of time where darkness arrives earlier in the afternoon/evening and this can impact our exposure to sunlight during the day. The reduction in sunlight, coupled with the colder days, can leave us feeling physically weighed down and emotionally sluggish.

Common Symptoms Include:

• Increased sleep and daytime drowsiness
• Loss of interest and pleasure in activities formerly enjoyed
• Social withdrawal and increased sensitivity
• Feelings of guilt and hopelessness
• Decreased ability to focus or concentrate
• Physical problems such as headaches or stomach sensitivity

If you are feeling emotionally sluggish or that you are experiencing symptoms of SAD, you can try the following to boost your mood:

• Exposure to sunlight: spending some time outdoors or near a window can help relieve minor symptoms.
• Set realistic goals: break out larger tasks into smaller ones, set prioritizes and focus on goals that you can accomplish.
• Speak to family or friends: confide in others about how you are feeling and lean on your support systems. Confiding in friends and family is usually better than feeling secretive and dealing with things on your own.
• Get regular exercise: adding more movement in your daily routine will increase serotonin levels (which helps your brain regular mood).
• Focus on the positives: try to be patient with how you are feeling and focus on feeling better each day.
• Get help: if you think you may depressed or if you’re experiencing more moderate symptoms of SAD, speak to your family doctor.

Circle of Care will be distributing safety whistles to all of our PSWs and Homemakers through their supply bags in the next couple of weeks.   You can attach the safety whistle to your keys or ID badge.  This safety whistle is a tool to be used to signal for help, against crimes or in emergencies.   If you had missed our Community Safety Presentation, please watch the video recording posted here for more tips on Community Safety. Due to technical issues with the presentation provided to PSWs, we are sharing the video recording of our non-union presentation, as the information shared was very similar.

NOVEMBER 

November is Exercise & Falls Prevention Month, Diabetes Awareness Month

Nov 15: National Grief & Bereavement Day

Nov 22: Happy Gut, Happy Mind Webinar

Circle of Care has developed a new policy on Electronic Monitoring as a result of recent updates to the Employment Standards Act, 2000 (ESA). Employers with 25 or more employees are now required to have a written policy on the electronic monitoring of employees and provide employees with a copy of the policy for review.
All employees are expected to review the policy through a mandatory attestation in Dayforce. The deadline to complete this policy review was November 4, 2022. If you have not completed this mandatory attestation, please do so by logging into Dayforce Learning app. You will be paid for completing this training.