Job Description

Unity Health Toronto is working toward making transformative changes in its relationship with Indigenous peoples, and in improvements to health care and care experiences for Indigenous peoples at each of its sites. In order to continue building its capabilities to participate in reconciliation and advancing wellness of Indigenous peoples, Unity Health will be hiring a permanent Full Time, Indigenous Wellness Specialist.


The Indigenous Wellness Specialist will report directly to the Director, Indigenous Wellness, Reconciliation and Partnerships, but will have regular functional liaison to work in coordination with the leadership of the Emergency Department, in particular the Senior Program Director, Clinical Emergency Care. Working as a member of the Unity Health Indigenous care team, the successful candidate will provide support, and function as a hospital and community liaison for First Nations, Inuit, and Metis (FNIM) community members accessing services at Unity Health who are identified as having immediate unmet health and social needs (e.g. experiencing homelessness, income and/or food insecurity, acute or chronic mental health and/or addictions challenges, family problems). The position will be focused on connecting with and supporting FNIM patients and their family members throughout their Emergency Department visits from admission to discharge, and in some cases prior (when notified by community agencies or healthcare providers to support in the wellness, culturally safe care and health outcomes for Indigenous persons receiving care at Unity Health Toronto (UHT) and after (when continuity of relationship during hospital admission or community discharge is beneficial).There are plans to hire additional staff to support FNIM hospital in-patients and their families.

Responsibilities:

Working with the Indigenous care team, ED leadership and staff, and stakeholders iteratively develops respectful and service user informed access and referral pathways by which FNIM service users and their families can access their support and/or be referred to other staff for support in the ED; Working with the Indigenous care team, ED leadership and staff, and Indigenous community representatives contribute to the development and expansion of staff and services to adequately respond to system level needs. Works with the Indigenous Wellbeing team, Indigenous Leadership Circle, and relevant Unity Health leaders to develop respectful, clinically and culturally safe, and culturally relevant processes for FNIM service users to self-identify when accessing ED services at Unity Health; Works with the ED team to ensure First Nations, Inuit, and Metis service users and their families are welcomed upon admission to the ED that information is available to them regarding Indigenous support services and how to access them; Works with the Indigenous Wellbeing team, Indigenous Leadership Circle, and Indigenous Care Pathways Steering Committee to develop a culturally safe and efficient referral processes by which FNIM service users in the ED can access or be referred to Indigenous support services; Works with the Indigenous Wellbeing team, Indigenous Leadership Circle, Indigenous Care Pathways Steering Committee, and relevant Unity Health Quality Assurance and Anti-racism, equity and social accountability leaders and contributes to the development and implementation an Indigenous specific critical incident monitoring process, which tracks physical and non-physical harms to FNIM clients and staff in the course of their care or work at Unity Health. Works with the Indigenous Wellbeing team, Indigenous Leadership Circle, Indigenous Care Pathways Steering Committee, and relevant ED leaders and staff to optimize processes, policies, procedures, and the physical environment Iteratively prioritize support activities as scope and magnitude of support required may exceed capacity; Establishes a therapeutic rapport with self or provider referred FNIM clients, including asking appropriate/relevant questions to identify Clients immediate needs - e.g., shelter, seeing a Physician, etc.; Reviews these immediate needs with Clients and co-develops with them a short term plan to meet these immediate needs; Follows and supports navigation of Clients throughout their ED care journey, noting and supporting as relevant culturally safe admission and discharge, and facilitates transitions to other care providers as appropriate; Works with ED colleagues to support patients to access clothing and supplies, as available, during the ED visit; Screens each referred client for physical, mental (including substance use), emotional, spiritual, and family health issues that are impacting their current illness , using evidence informed and culturally relevant tools, and ensures the ED clinical care team is aware of findings of this assessment. Reviews care and discharge plans with clients to ensure they are practical, feasible, and culturally safe Maintains a culturally safe and healing rapport with Clients, ensuring their unique needs and living circumstances are factored into care provided, communication and discharge plan; Through regular visiting with Clients, maintains an awareness of their daily care events and activities and assists and supports them socially, emotionally, culturally, and spiritually as relevant.; As relevant, identifies emerging mental/physical signs and symptoms of acute mental health and/or substance use disorders and/or behavioural challenges that threaten client safety and/or wellbeing and refer Clients to relevant programs, services, and/or specialists in a timely manner; Identifies and documents barriers to access obstacles to optimal care, engaging the relevant managers as appropriate; Ensures Clients receive medications, as required by a Physician and in accordance with the Policies and Procedures Manual and identifies and documents when Clients may require additional explanations from the health care team regarding the purpose and correct use of their medications. Assists the Clients in aspects of individual care including physical, social, emotional, spiritual, educational, recreational, development in a manner which promotes Clients dignity and independence; Assists Clients with activities of daily living, e.g., making a phone call, accessing a meal, etc.; As relevant, works with to identify and connect with recreational and skills development opportunities. Ce.g., computer classes, art classes, etc.; Monitors the physical, clinical, and cultural safety of referred Clients, alerting the relevant team if safety is compromised, e.g., Emergency Department (ED) for clinical issues or Security Department for safety concerns; or Indigenous care team members for cultural safety issues. Works with the Indigenous Wellbeing team, Indigenous Leadership Circle, Indigenous Care Pathways Steering Committee, and relevant ER and Hospital leaders to identify and advance creative solutions relative to operational/systems improvements e.g., clothing drive, appropriateness of ED referrals, etc.; Support other staff in the ED in accessing appropriate Indigenous cultural safety training as relevant.
Liaising with a variety of team members, e.g., Emergency, Allied Health, Security, Community Health Coordinator, Community Agency Workers and Volunteers to ensure the ED environment is physically ready for Clients and Indigenous Cultural Safety is optimized by the environment.

Qualifications

College certificate, or undergraduate degree in relevant health or social sciences field or equivalent relevant work experience. Certification as a regulated health care or social service professional an asset A minimum of 2 years experience working in a healthcare environment Experience working in a hospital environment an asset A minimum of 2 years experience working with an interprofessional/interdisciplinary team Knowledge on Indigenous Nations, community engagement and cultural protocols required Experience with Indigenous cultural safety training, anti-racist practice and trauma informed care Indigenous identity and lived experience with Indigenous communities; existing ties to local and regional communities and nations would be considered an asset; An ability to respectfully and meaningfully engage clients experiencing homelessness; demonstrated understanding of the unique issues and barriers facing Indigenous populations; An ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary team; Able to communicate with clients in a professional, empathetic and culturally safe manner Strong organizational, coordination and administrative skills; Knowledge of mental health and addictions treatment modalities an asset;
Unity Health Toronto is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive organization. We strive to provide a recruitment process that is barrier-free and in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the Ontario Human Rights Code. We understand that you may require an accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process. When you are contacted, please inform the Talent Acquisition Specialist and we will work with you to meet your accommodation needs. We want to emphasize that all accommodation requests are handled with the utmost confidentiality, respecting your privacy and dignity.