Helping seniors live happier and healthier lives
#UnsungHeroes Interview with Somerset West Community Health Centre (SWCHC)
May 25, 2020
The Somerset West Community Health Centre (SWCHC) has done a tremendous amount of hands-on work to support our neighborhood in times of physical distancing and increased need for social and health services. Amid COVID-19, the team at SWCHC has pivoted their frontline strategies to digital and phone services, as well as maintaining critical in-person wellness checks and food deliveries. Located in the heart of Ottawa’s Chinatown, SWCHC provides local residents and ethnolinguistic communities with services tailored to their needs. They also support homeless and precariously-housed people, low-income households and seniors. These and many more services are free of charge and prioritize the health and well-being of the most vulnerable.
We had the privilege of speaking with three incredible women: Sue Merrill, Ying Shen, and Karen Luong. Sue is the Manager of Quality Improvement who ensures that different teams have the resources and partnerships they need to succeed, and that vulnerable populations are receiving the support they need. She also participates on the City’s Human Needs Task Force on COVID-19 relief, bringing the challenges faced by frontline workers to the fore and communicating their needs. In her position as a Community Support Worker for the Chinese community, Ying refers clients to different government programs, such as helping them apply for employment insurance. She also provides much-needed interpretation and translation services to bridge the language gap faced by many Chinese seniors. Karen, a Community Support Worker for the Vietnamese community, also helps her clients develop a better understanding of government programs and provides supportive counseling to help clients cope with emotional problems and mental illness.
Key issues in the community during COVID-19
Since the COVID-19 outbreak, food insecurity has emerged as a key issue. Single parents facing financial difficulties are struggling to provide for their families. Food insecurity can also be found among homeless people, isolated seniors who can’t go out to shop or don’t have a credit card, and people who may have recently lost their jobs and income due to COVID-19. To address these issues, SWCHC implemented a food delivery program built on partnerships. Their partner, Parkdale Food Centre, works with local restaurants and crisis relief organizations such as Operation Ramzieh to provide essential food items and meals to vulnerable clients while stimulating the local economy. This is just one of many examples of how community organizations are helping each other to get through these difficult times and driving impact.
The three women have also witnessed firsthand the disproportionately negative impacts that racialized groups and newcomers face; many of them are frontline workers and face greater exposure to systemic barriers. This speaks to the important role that SWCHC plays by taking care of those who often fall through the cracks, even back when things were “normal.”
Physical distancing in shelters is another challenge. That’s why SWCHC advocated the City to open a community center for the homeless to practice safe physical distance and personal hygiene.
Sue: “The best protection for COVID-19 is a home, where people can be safe, fed and isolated.”
The pandemic has also exacerbated and triggered mental health issues. Karen mentioned that she has a client who experiences relapses of mental illnesses for whom she now provides regular check-ins. The client is isolated, has language barriers and doesn’t understand her illness or triggers. To help the client understand and work through the illnesses, Karen provides her with support and coping strategies.
Karen: “To see my clients live healthier and happier once they overcome their difficulties through my support, is very gratifying. I feel so thankful to have the opportunity to learn from them.”
It isn’t just the most vulnerable who are affected
However, it isn’t just the most vulnerable who are affected. Some people who were previously not considered to be vulnerable now find themselves in a higher-risk category. New vulnerabilities include ethnocultural seniors who previously relied on family support and can no longer depend on their families due to the need to self-isolate. In addition, those who live in multi-generational housing have to learn how to keep each other safe. Newly vulnerable residents often feel uncomfortable asking for help or talking to a counsellor; SWCHC recognized this barrier and adapted messaging to encourage more people to seek help if needed.
The pandemic has also given new meaning to inclusive and people-centered technology. Meeting people where they’re at — that’s what Ying and Karen are focused on rather than implementing a one-size-fits-all solution that may not work for all clients. Ying has moved her services to WeChat, a platform that her clients are familiar with and taught her clients how to use Zoom. She successfully connected 15 seniors in a recent Zoom session. For Karen’s clients, internet-based solutions are not feasible given that they do not have access to the internet. She makes phone calls to her clients instead and both she and Ying are planning to deliver some services using Mercury, a teleconference system with lower accessibility barriers.
For people with limited or no internet connectivity and digital literacy, obtaining information on COVID-19 updates and applying for relief programs has been challenging. These hurdles show how much of an essential service access to internet and technology is. As Sue aptly characterized it, universal internet access is now more important than ever, similar to electricity.
Addressing the gaps
To address this digital barrier, Sue and her team are seeking to raise 15,000$ for data plans, tablets, phones and technical support for their seniors. By preloading apps like Zoom on tablets, this ensures that seniors can stay socially connected and receive essential services while self-isolating. Sue’s most rewarding career moment during this time has been to secure funding to help frontline workers deliver critical services, and now she is focused on raising additional funds for the tablets. This is an example of how incremental funding would help vulnerable seniors access social/health services and address the very human need that we all share: to connect with our loved ones.
The timing of our interview coincided with our Hub’s Asian Heritage Month campaign, so we asked the three women to share their views on how the next generation of Asian-Canadians can learn from the older generations of Asian-Canadians that they work with, and vice versa.
Ying: “[…] one client made a Chinese painting and inside attached pictures from previous activities collected by everyone. It really touched my heart.”
While older Asian-Canadians are more community-focused, younger Asian-Canadians are often seen as focusing too much on their careers and individual success. However, Ying cited an example of how a local Chinese student group stepped up to organize grocery delivery for the elderly, giving back to their community in very tangible ways during this pandemic. Karen sees this intergenerational solidarity as an opportunity to sow the seeds for future activities — bridging cultural differences and increasing mutual respect and understanding.
With Karen, Ying, and Sue caring for our most vulnerable and doing so in a human-centered way, we have faith that our community will emerge on the other side, stronger than ever.
