March 04, 2020
Dear colleagues,
On behalf of our staff, students, volunteers, clients and their families, please join me in honouring both Baycrest’s Social Workers during Social Work Week 2020, as well as Baycrest’s Music Therapy staff during Music Therapy Awareness Month, throughout March 2020! This is an opportunity for us to reflect and appreciate the leadership and commitment that Baycrest Social Workers and Music Therapists demonstrate in supporting our vision of “A world where every older adult enjoys a life of purpose, inspiration and fulfilment”.
Music Therapy is an invaluable clinical discipline which uses music purposefully within therapeutic relationships to support development, health and wellbeing. Music Therapists enable all individuals to achieve optimal quality of life and improved physical, mental and social/emotional functioning through meaningful engagement with music. Here at Baycrest, you will find Music Therapy staff working in the hospital, at the Terraces and in the Apotex, Jewish Home for the Aged. They are important members of the inter-professional team, engaging with patients, clients, residents and families to help bring purpose, inspiration and fulfilment to everyone’s lives.
This year's Social Work theme, “Social Workers: Leading Positive Change Across Systems and Settings” emphasizes the profound effect Social Workers have on the overall wellbeing of society at large. Here at Baycrest, you will find Social Workers in the hospital, at the Terraces, in the Apotex, Jewish Home for the Aged, Community and Ambulatory settings. Social Workers innovate and improve care through clinical practice, formal and informal leadership roles, and through diverse roles from education to research. Working to empower and support individuals and their families, Social Workers provide essential support in increasingly complex environments.
While we will celebrate and recognize all of our staff during Baycrest’s Inter-professional Collaborative Care: Education & Practice Week, this month I encourage you to please take a moment to say “thank you” to our valued Music Therapists and Social Workers in recognition of the incredible work they do.
Scott Ovenden
Vice President, Clinical Programs and Corporate Performance and Long Term Care (Interim)