This Social Work Week and Month, we want to thank and recognize each and every social worker across Ontario for the critical work they do.
In our engagement with members, social workers, and the people who work with them, we are often struck by the incredible diversity and versatility of the profession.
Social workers are found in communities large and small, and in countless settings and capacities, supporting people across a range of identities.
The common thread is the holistic, person-centered approach that allows social workers to work together with their clients to open up and create new and empowering pathways.
Our Social Work Opens Doors campaign aims to showcase the many ways that social workers help Ontarians open doors to greater mental wellbeing, safety and stability.
Often, this comes in the form of direct mental health support, whether this is accessed through a social worker in private practice, or in one of the many places that Ontarians engage with every day, from schools, community agencies and libraries, to long-term care, hospitals and more.
It can also mean helping Ontarians navigate an often complex and overwhelming system of mental health and social supports. Knowing where to start is never easy, but social workers can lean on their deep understanding of supports and services across the province to help open doors and guide the way.
In schools, this looks like noticing the early warning signs of a student who’s struggling at school or at home, building a connection, assessing needs, and working with the student and their caregivers to connect them with the supports they need to thrive.
In community agencies, this means providing specialized support to Ontarians facing a variety of challenges, from housing and income insecurity, to settlement challenges, substance use, intimate partner violence, justice system navigation and more.
In long-term care, this comes in the form of critical psychosocial care to support residents’ wellbeing, helping their families and loved ones feel more at ease.
In hospitals, this looks like supporting patients and their loved ones experiencing acute or chronic illness, injury, addictions and mental health challenges, grief and more, and helping to connect them with key services in the community to support the next steps in their journey.
On primary care teams, this means collaborating with doctors, nurses, and other health professionals to ensure that patients get the holistic care they need to support their physical and mental health.
In a crisis, this comes in the form of mobile, responsive support, with social workers acting as key members of mobile crisis response teams to provide immediate intervention and connect people to relevant community services.
In child protection, this means protecting safety when it’s at risk, as well as strengthening families, by working with parents and caregivers to develop the skills and tools needed to build safe and secure environments for children in their care.
In local libraries, this looks like meeting people where they’re at to support visitors who may be struggling and need access to services and support in the community.
In private practice, this means providing direct, client-centered mental health support as clinicians and therapists, either in-person or through virtual care.
Social workers also bring a social justice and equity-based lens to their work, understanding their clients and the challenges they’re facing within broader contexts, including the impacts of racism, oppression and discrimination on mental health.
Given all of this, it’s not surprising that Ontario’s 24,000+ social workers are the largest providers of mental health services and support across the province.
Each and every day, we see social workers mobilizing mental health and wellbeing by opening doors for Ontarians in empowering and impactful ways.
This Social Work Week and Month, whether you’re a social worker, someone who works with them, or someone whose life has been impacted by one, we hope you’ll join us in celebrating and showcasing the many ways that #SocialWorkOpensDoors.