Inside the Circle – August 8, 2023

At Circle of Care, we care about your well-being and want to support you during these stressful times. We understand that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought extra challenges, and we know you might be feeling overwhelmed. It’s essential to take care of yourself so you can continue taking care of others. Your well-being matters to us, and we are here to help you every step of the way. Remember, you are important, and we want to see you thrive!

Policies & Procedures:

Our Psychological Health and Safety in the Workplace Policy focuses on making sure Circle of Care employees feel safe and happy at work. Our policy focuses on different ways to achieve this, including creating a respectful culture and finding ways to improve the working environment. Our leadership team and our workers all have specific responsibilities to make sure everyone’s well-being is taken care of. We also have a process for reporting and investigating problems. To read the full policy, click below:

Our Safe Operating Practice for Psychological Hazards Exposure talks about training and competency for workplace safety and well-being. It discusses the policies we have in place to help employees. It identifies hazards like high job demand, poor job clarity, and bullying. The goal is to prevent injuries like PTSD and burnout by taking precautions, reporting incidents, and providing support and resources for employees. To read the full SOP, click below:

Recommended Resource – Wellness Together Canada – Mental Health Support:

We invite you to visit the Wellness Together Canada website, offering free resources and support tools. The website provides a range of resources, including education materials, self-assessment tools, 24/7 phone counseling, free apps to support your well-being, and peer and community support groups. For more information, click below:

For additional resources and supports, click below:

Policy

Emergencies may occur during the course of a visit to a client. You must regularly review your responsibilities regarding emergencies to ensure you respond in a professional manner, providing prompt attention to any emergency.

Definitions

An emergency is a serious, unexpected, and often dangerous situation that requires immediate action. The emergency procedure is a plan of actions in response to an emergency event.

Examples of emergencies include:

• A client has fallen and is unable to get up unassisted.
• A client has had a medical emergency, such as diabetic reaction/coma, stroke, heart attack, where the client is unconscious or appears to have died.
• A small fire which cannot be doused within a few seconds with baking soda, a fire extinguisher, pot lid, or other means.

Procedure

Medical Emergency:

• Call 911 immediately.
• Do not move the client; keep the client warm and comfortable.
• Report the incident to a live person in the office.
• Attend to the client’s needs until the ambulance attendant arrives.

Fire Emergency:

• Remove the client and staff from the situation and call 911 from outside the home.
• If unable to remove the client from the home, call 911 from the nearest phone and inform emergency personnel that the client needs immediate removal.
• Wait for help to arrive and report the incident to a live person in the office.

Handling Refusal to Call Emergency Services:

If you identify a medical emergency, but the client/caregiver/family refuses to call emergency services, follow the following procedure:

•  Make every attempt to explain the importance of assessment by medical personnel.
• Immediately report the refusal to the Call Centre.
• Call Centre staff will try to transfer the call to a live CSS or Case Manager (CSM) (transfer to on-call CSS after hours).
• CSS or CSM will speak directly to the client/caregiver/family to explain the risks associated with not calling for emergency help. The caller will remind the client/caregiver/family that transferring to the hospital will be their choice, but an assessment by emergency personnel is essential.
• If the client/caregiver/family still refuses, CSS or CSM will document the details of the exchange in the client’s file and report it to the appropriate funder.

We are pleased to welcome the following new PSWs & Homemakers to Circle of Care:

• Ssemwogerere Ddembe
• Shraddha Mayavanshi
• Sanskriti Sanskriti
• Gemma Acosta
• Sonia Cayat
• Leo Gradente Moso
• Kenneth Ponce
• Ethelle Dacuycuy
• Angela Iammarino
• Akingbade Olufunke
• Celina Canto
• Virginia Sintzel
• Emily Matta
• Keni Patel

All SEIU Circle of Care members are invited to Happy Purple Day. The event will take place at Earl Bales Park (4169 Bathurst St.) on Saturday August 12 from 3:00pm to 7:00pm.

Thank you to all PSWs and Homemakers who participated in July’s wellness challenge. The winners of the challenge are listed below. All winners will receive their Applause points upload shortly.

• 1st place: Annie Morillo – 376, 574 steps
• 2nd place: Lena Makaveeva – 322, 861 steps
• 3rd place: Jho Panlilio – 304, 951 steps
• Participation prize: Maria Paz Raymundo

MP Ya’ara Saks invites all community members to her annual community picnic on Sunday August 13th from 12:00pm to 2:00pm. It will be held at the Downsview Park Orchard Pavilion. There will be free food and ice cream, available while supplies last. Vegetarian and kosher options will be available.

There will also be a DJ performing music, as well as speeches from local dignitaries.

If you have any questions, and to RSVP, please email yaara.saks@parl.gc.ca

We invite you to submit your questions or feedback below. Please note that it may take us longer to provide some answers, so if you’ve asked a question that hasn’t been answered yet, we will get back to you in the coming weeks.