Page 23 - Sharpening the Focus at UHN

PURPOSE, VALUES AND PRINCIPLES
CLINICAL OPTIMIZATION
CARING SAFELY
PATIENT EXPERIENCE
PURPOSE, VALUES AND PRINCIPLES
TEAM ENGAGEMENT
CLINICAL OPTIMIZATION
IT TRANSFORMATION
Apr/16 May/16 Jun/16 Jul/16 Aug/16 Sept/16 Oct/16 Nov/16 Dec/16 Jan/17 Feb/17 Mar/17 Apr/16 May/16 Jun/16 Jul/16 Aug/16 Sept/16 Oct/16 Nov/16 Dec/16 Jan/17 Feb/17 Mar/17
CARING SAFELY
‘I come to work for patients’: UHN Toronto Rehab and Michener team up on
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
Environmental Services staff member aging simulation
discusses role in patient care Noosha Afshin Jah’s hands shake and bands and weights that limit movement in her
PATIENT EXPERIENCE

her voice wavers as she arrives for her joints and force her to walk slowly and with a
MICHENER INTEGRATION
Pat Mason has been making her patient and staff experiences. appointment. Her joints ache, she’s pronounced hunch. She wears goggles that limit her
“rounds” at Toronto General Hospital In 2003, when SARS hit and visitors to the hospital uneasy on her feet and she relies on a vision, earplugs that impair her hearing and gloves
TEAM ENGAGEMENT
(TGH) for more than 35 years, with were limited, Pat felt that the patients needed a way to cane for mobility and support. She’s that reduce her sense of touch. All together, the
her own special dose of healthy cheer. connect with the outside world. So, she started picking having trouble seeing clearly and tasks that were once suit simulates many of the physical characteristics

A resource of information to medical up Metro Toronto newspapers and handing them out easy for her – such as reading small print or getting in associated with frailty.
staff, a provider of hugs to concerned families, and a to the patients on her floor every morning. At the time, and out of a chair – have become significantly more The frail aging simulation suit is part of the “Working
IT TRANSFORMATION
conversation-buddy to patients who are healing, Pat she worked in the transplant inpatient unit on the difficult. With Seniors” specialty program offered by The
considers the role of Environmental Services staff to seventh floor of TGH. Luckily, the frailty she is experiencing is temporary. Michener Institute to help healthcare workers gain
be much more than maintaining the cleanliness of the This is a practice she has maintained for the past 13 Noosha, an occupational therapist at Toronto a better understanding of the healthcare needs of an
hospital. years. Every day of the work week, Pat’s shift starts Rehab’s Musculoskeletal (MSK) and Multi-System aging population. The suit immerses its wearer into
RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
“I love my job. I come to work for patients,” explains at 7 a.m., but she is at the hospital at 6 a.m. – first Rehabilitation Program, is taking part in a simulation the experience of what simple activities might feel like
Pat, who now works in the transplant step-down unit distributing the paper to patients on the seventh floor, facilitated by The Michener Institute of Education at for a frail older adult, helping to change participants’
on the 10th floor at TGH. and then to those on the 10th floor. UHN that mimics the experience of becoming frail perspectives on providing senior-friendly care.
with age.
“The staff look at me as more than a housekeeper. They “The patients look forward to it,” explains Pat. Link to full story: click here.
view me as a team member who’s working with them “Many say, ‘Thank you. If it wasn’t for you, I’d be staring Noosha is wearing a bright orange jumpsuit – the
and their patients.” MICHENER INTEGRATION at the wall.’” frail aging simulation suit – equipped with straps,

For this year’s International Housekeeping Week, UHN Link to full story: click here.
News profiled Pat, who explained what she enjoys about Also Making News
Also Making News
housekeeping, and how she helps create exceptional

First education day
Toronto Rehab team goes focused…adults born with
outside hospital walls for seniors heart disease

Grant allows Krembil researcher Blood transfusions are
to use imaging to study now quicker, simpler for
Alzheimer’s patients

Landmark agreement To gain a deeper understanding of what frail aging might feel like for many Finding a new home for
of her patients, Noosha Afshin Jah, Occupational Therapist at Toronto
standardizes cancer care Rehab, stepped into the shoes of an older patient and participated in an aging unused medical supplies
training simulation at The Michener Institute of Education at UHN. (Photo: UHN)

Pat Mason sees the role of Environmental Services as team members to
other departments who are critical in patient care. (Photo: UHN)
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