Inside the Circle – November 28, 2023

Avoid slips, trips, and falls with these simple safety tips:

• Stay alert! Don’t let what you’re carrying block your view.
• Watch out for changing floor conditions—whether it’s wet to dry, rough to smooth, or uneven surfaces.
• Keep your space clutter-free. Make sure to clean up shoes, papers, toys, and any other obstacles.
• Clean up any spills to avoid slippery surfaces.
• Step into the right shoes- make sure they’re slip-resistant, supportive, and comfy.
• If you spot a hazard, report it to your supervisor right away.

And here’s a friendly reminder to check out our Safe Footwear policy. It’s your guide to the right shoes that keep you safe and upright. As winter approaches, grab your winter boots—essential for those snowy and icy days. And hey, enjoy a sweet discount on winter boots through our Employee Perks Program (Perkopolis). Stay safe and stylish!

Let’s dive into a personalized approach when dealing with challenging behaviours from your clients. Be a detective of their life story—are there traumas, likes, dislikes, cultural or spiritual needs? Tailor your care to them because one size doesn’t fit all.

Remember, there’s no instant fix, often trial and error. Be a detective, find clues to their behaviour, and try suitable strategies. Here’s your guide:

• Tackle the Physical:
  • Ensure hearing aids, glasses, or dentures are handy.
  • Offer food, drink, and routine toileting.
  • Keep an eye for signs of pain or discomfort.
• Consider the Environment:
  • Declutter and minimize noise.
  • Use signs for orientation (like a picture on the bathroom door).
  • Provide tools for reorientation, like a calendar.
• Distraction Works Wonders:
  • Engage them in enjoyable activities—music, a picture book, or a simple game.
  • Approved walks can be therapeutic.
• Ease Loneliness and Anxiety:
  • Reassure with a calm tone; avoid arguments.
  • If their belief is harmless, don’t confront—validate their feelings.
• Stick to Routine:
  • Avoid changes in routine and environment.

And here’s a heads-up! You’re all enrolled in a Workplace Violence and Harassment e-learning course through Dayforce. Complete it by December 31, 2023, and you’ll receive 30 minutes of paid training time in January. Happy learning!

To learn more about handling responsive behaviours, please visit: https://psw.circleofcare.com/index.php/working-with-clients/alzheimers-dementias-care/?highlight=responsive%20behaviours

Just a quick reminder about something important: here at Circle of Care, we have policies and procedures in place to make sure we all feel safe and respected.

If you ever experience anything like violence, harassment, discrimination, or hate during work or working hours, don’t keep it to yourself. Report it to your Supervisor, Manager, Director, or our Human Resources team. We have procedures in place to follow up and make things right.

For more details, read our policies. Your safety matters to us!

It’s the last week of our November ‘Daily Well-being Challenge’! Don’t forget to check off, or log, which daily challenges you have completed. Send your completed Challenge calendar to Nasrin (nalam@circleofcare.com) by December 8th for the chance to be entered into a draw to win 2500 Applause Points!

Click here to access the Challenge calendar.

Beyond Silence is a free and confidential mental health support program for our PSWs and Homemakers. Through the app, you can access resources to support your mental well-being, and you are able to speak with a trained Peer Support Provider. You can access the app on your Circle of Care work phone, and on your personal device.

ACCESS CODE: CCYP527J8

For more information about the program, please visit: https://psw.circleofcare.com/index.php/health-safety/wellness-at-work/

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

• Doreen Quaye
• Kerry-Ann Mckoy Moore
• Ace Atractivo
• Malou Pena
• Binita Neupane
• Melina Shrestha Poudel
• Razia Amin
• Grace Mae Gara
• Yan Yi Chan
• Ngozi Oniyeyone
• Mahima Patel
• Darshil Thakur
• Jaya Rohit
• Maribel Natalio
• Sielyn Celario
• Sandhya Khanal
• Amritbir Kaur

As you know, Circle of Care has a no-gift policy in place, meaning that none of our staff should accept gifts from clients or families. We recognize that there are times when clients would like to thank staff for their outstanding work. For situations like these, we have started a new program called the Celebrate Care program. Through this program, a client may recognize a Circle of Care employee by donating in their honour to Circle of Care. Circle of Care will recognize the employee on behalf of this client. You can learn more about this program by visiting https://www.circleofcare.com/celebratecare/.

By law how many days do I have to stay at home after getting a positive Covid-19 test?

Please note that in addition to the provincial guidelines, Circle of Care has established agency wide COVID-19 protocols as we are a health care organization.  Our agency guidelines for employees who have tested positive for COVID-19 are as follows:

• Symptomatic: self-isolate for 10 days starting from the date of symptom onset. Employee can return to work on day 11 as long as their symptoms have resolved.
• Asymptomatic (no symptoms): self-isolate for 7 days starting from the date of positive test. Employee can return to work on Day 8 as long as they don’t have any symptoms.

If you test positive for COVID-19, please call the office and speak with a team member live to report this information. Our team will then confirm your isolation and return to work details.

For more information about our COVID protocols, please visit: https://psw.circleofcare.com/index.php/covid-19-resources/

The province also has guidelines for the general population, which can reviewed here:

https://www.toronto.ca/community-people/health-wellness-care/health-programs-advice/respiratory-viruses/covid-19/covid-19-what-you-should-do/covid-19-what-to-do-if-you-have-covid-19/

My supervisor called me and let me know that my client tested COVID-positive and that I had been exposed. I felt a bit of a sore throat and body pain so my supervisor told me to stay home the next 2 days. My question is am I entitled to be paid for the 2 days I’m not working because I was exposed to a COVID client and I had symptoms? I’m testing negative. I don’t have any more sick leave available. I’m so sad because no work no pay, so on the 3rd day I need to go to work because I need it, especially right now when everything is expensive. Thank you.

Thank you for reaching out about this. Our COVID-19 protocols also outline specific guidelines for when our employees are exposed to COVID+ clients. If the exposure is deemed ‘high risk’, our employees will be informed by their CSS to remain home from work, isolate and monitor for symptoms. In all of these circumstances, our employees are eligible for COVID-19 exposure pay, so that they don’t lose out on any income. Your CSS should have informed our HR team about your exposure, so we could have issued payment. Please reach out to Kai from our HR team (ksvirida@circleofcare.com or 647-724-5679), so we can ensure you are provided with exposure pay for your time off work.

I just read two questions about getting a hold of help from the office in case of an emergency. I would like to suggest that this concern could be addressed if we had more coordinators on staff, because even if we have call center agents, they rely on the coordinators to address our problems anyway.

Thank you for your feedback.  We are currently in the process of onboarding more Call center and Service coordination staff to better assist callers. The call center staff is equipped to handle various calls and those that require service coordination intervention will be patched through to the coordinator. If there are specific concerns around call handling by the call center staff please contact Aleksandra Janik at 437-922-5291 or via email at ajanik@circleofcare.com and we can discuss the specific concerns that you may have experienced.  We are open to hearing your feedback and taking any necessary action with the teams around how to handle calls.

I am finding that I have more and more gaps in my schedule, and when I have these gaps and it’s cold, rainy, or snowy, it can be difficult to find shelter or a bathroom while I wait for my next client. People in the office can’t understand how hard and challenging this is. Just to get more hours, I accept any destination, just for $20. I just want to be working more in a smaller area – mostly Scarborough and Markham Road area. I need this to be fixed.

Thank you for your feedback. Although we strive to limit the amount of gap time in the schedule, there are various changes to clients schedules that may be contributing to the gaps, including cancellations, service holds, decreases and discharges from services. We encourage you to discuss your schedule with your service coordinator and work together to make changes to your schedule as long as the clients are not impacted negatively. Some of our caseloads boundaries are larger than others and travel between clients is required.

I want to change my availability. How do I do that?

We invite you to submit an availability change request through our online form: https://psw.circleofcare.com/index.php/availability-form/ The form is also accessible on the home page of the PSW Portal (under Quick Links). Please note that filling out the form does not guarantee that your availability change request will necessarily be approved.