Clinical & Client Services
It was another year full of opportunities for the clinical and client services team!
Transform the client and family experience across all life stages
“Unprecedented” is a word that was used often in 2020 to describe the COVID-19 pandemic. But, at Grandview Kids, “unprecedented” evolved into new opportunities. Opportunities like continuing to provide services and supports to clients and families in new virtual and hybrid formats, hiring and welcoming new staff, and launching new programs and services.
#TeamGrandview clinicians moved at rapid speeds to adapt service delivery when COVID-19 protocols caused Grandview Kids to close for in-person services. Staff quickly acquired the knowledge and skills to implement telepractice across all services, first for our clients actively engaging in service and then for our clients waiting for initial assessments. In addition, enhanced infection prevention and control protocols were established to allow essential services, like the Muscle Tone (Botox) Clinic, to remain accessible to children and youth who needed treatment the most.
Hybrid models, including in-person and virtual sessions, have helped children and youth access services throughout the pandemic. For example, our School-Based Rehabilitation (SBR) services continued to offer in-person appointments in-centre or in-school, as well as virtual appointments. Hybrid models have been adopted by many of our disciplines, providing a safe and effective way for children and youth to continue to reach their goals.
A significant accomplishment during these challenging times was the launch of the Ontario Autism Program (OAP) Foundational Family Services. These services include a range of caregiver workshops, family engagement and peer mentorship, as well as service navigation. Many of our parent workshops through Foundational Family Services have been converted to virtual platforms. They are freely available on the Grandview Kids website to families of children registered with the OAP.
Championing a connected system
We continue to co-create with parents, caregivers, and partners an innovative system that works for families.
Early in the pandemic, we worked alongside special needs resourcing agencies in Durham Region to provide consultation to licensed child care centres that offered emergency child care to essential workers. Together with our partners, we co-created criteria to support the decision to provide in-person or virtual consultation to centres. This adapted model of service helped strengthen inclusive practices upheld by the child care centres, ensuring every child was welcomed into their new learning environment.
Collaborations extended to our partners at the Durham District School Board (DDSB). Together, we co-created and co-facilitated three virtual workshops for the DDSB professional development activities for kindergarten educators.
In the early months of 2021, Grandview Kids extended the OAP-Durham partnership with Lake Ridge Community Support Services and Resources for Exceptional Children and Youth to include The Regional Municipality of Durham’s Infant and Child Development program and Durham Behaviour Management Services. As a collaborative, the OAP-Durham submitted a joint application to deliver a series of caregiver-mediated early intervention programs to Durham Region families. The anticipated outcomes of this application are predicted to be announced in mid-2021.
Building Capacity
The COVID-19 pandemic required our organization to build capacity in a virtual environment, and we had to build it fast!
We responded to the need for virtual services quickly and identified Telepractice Champions who supported their peers’ transition to telepractice through one-on-one training, team meeting demonstrations, and job shadowing. Champions were especially helpful with the onboarding of new team members. As the demands for service continue to grow, we have increased staff recruitment and enhanced professional development opportunities.
Several of our #TeamGrandview clinicians, managers, and Medical Director attended the Children’s Health Care Canada Conference: “Creating synergy in paediatric complex care.” This virtual conference was hosted by Alberta Children’s Hospital Health Services and provided our representatives to build their clinical expertise and expand their professional networks.
The SBR speech-language pathologists (SLP) team created training modules to support the implementation of a SBR-Stuttering Pathway. The training consists of 12-hours of pre-recorded lectures and practice activities covering various topics related to the assessment and treatment of stuttering in kindergarten and grade one students. As of March 2021, all SBR-SLPs have completed the training modules.
Clinicians continue to seek out new opportunities to better support parents and caregivers.
Members of the Interprofessional Team and our organization’s change champions attended an introductory session for the Rush and Sheldon Parent Coaching. This education will further clinicians’ abilities to empower parents to implement therapeutic activities throughout their daily routines, leading to better goal achievement.
Rikki, a Speech Langauge Pathologist with Grandview Kids, put her coaching skills into action. Parents and caregivers are essential partners in care, and mom, Nicole, has been an active member of her daughter, Olivea’s, virtual therapy sessions. Together, Rikki and Nicole have seen Olivea flourish, reaching a new goal.
Nicole shares:
“Right after we left our appointment with Rikki, we played the Critter Clinic game. You won’t believe this! Olivea hit on all the words: stop, snake, snail, smoke, etc. I wish you had heard. I was super impressed and proud of her! She has been working very hard, and it’s paying off. It’s moments like this that melt my heart, and I had a bit of tears of joy for her. She has come a very long way.”
We share in the excitement felt by Nicole and Olivea, and are looking forward to more moments of joy over telepractice and in-person in the year ahead.
THANK YOU
We send our thanks to all the caring individuals, businesses and organizations whose contributions changed lives and made so much possible in 2020/2021. You helped Grandview kids move, play, learn, communicate and connect in ways their families never dreamed possible throughout one of our most challenging times yet.
