Thank you, Mr. Speaker. My questions today are for the Minister for Health and Social Services, in recognition of the Social Workers Month here. I would like to ask, recognizing the importance of the work that these workers do, what supports are in place? Frequently our workers, I know, deal with sad and sometimes traumatic situations, and that can take quite a toll on people and families, and people might even take it home and the consequences can disperse out. So, what supports do we have in place for this particular group of workers who have their own unique issues and require our support to sustain their work? Mahsi.
Thank you, Mr. Bromley. Minister of Health, Mr. Abernethy.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I agree, the social workers do incredible work and often they’re dealing with very difficult, traumatic situations. In the Department of Health and Social Services as well as in the eight health and social services authorities that we currently have in place, what happens often, and what is organized, is debriefing after very traumatic situations with other professionals. We also make counsellors, other social workers available should an individual be having some difficulty with a situation that they’re in. The Department of Human Resources also provides the Employee and Family Assistance Program which is another avenue for individuals. So, we debrief regularly, we have counselling available and we have EFAP available, Mr. Speaker.
Thanks for that response. What is the need? Are there a lot of requests from these workers for time off and that sort of thing? What is the sense that the department is meeting the needs of social workers? Is there any feedback or evaluation going on with respect to this? Mahsi.
Social workers are a protected title here in the Northwest Territories, a specific profession, and they have an association and we meet with them. The department meets with them as they meet with RNANTNU from time to time, as necessary. But I haven’t got those numbers the Member’s curious about. I will certainly ask the department to pull that information together to give us a bit of a sense.
I have talked to a number of social workers throughout the territory myself during my travels, and many of them have articulated some of these challenges that the Member is bringing up and have articulated that, you know, they’re thankful for things like EFAP debriefing and counselling being made available.
As far as the numbers, I’m just not aware of those at this time and I will commit to getting the number to the Member.
Thanks to the Minister there. Is there an attempt to move social workers around or to place them in cultural situations where they’re comfortable, that sort of thing? Do they receive the training for cross-cultural situations? Mahsi.
Thank you. The Department of Human Resources actually has cultural competency training that they provide and make available to all residents, or all employees of the GNWT. So in addition to that, the Department of Health and Social Services is currently working on cultural competencies that we can use within the health care system, recognizing that there are a lot of challenges in that area and that’s not just going to be available to social workers. That’s going to be available to doctors, nurses, all allied health professionals as well as social providers.
As far as moving individuals around, it’s a little bit more complicated in a multi-authority system. It will be something that we’ll be able to do with a little bit greater flexibility as we move forward with health transition into a single, combined, unified system focused on meeting the needs of all residents of the Northwest Territories. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Final, short supplementary, Mr. Bromley.
Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I’m just wondering if there are recognition programs that the government supports. Most communities know who their really successful social workers are, and a mechanism to support social workers would be great through some recognition or awards like that. Do we have that sort of support in place? Mahsi.
In the GNWT we have long service awards and those types of things, but as far as a recognition that the Member is talking about, and I may have missed the point, but it sounds something like the teachers Hall of Fame or something along those lines to recognize our nurses who have made a real contribution, or to recognize social workers who have made a significant contribution over time. We don’t have those. Nobody has brought it up to me until just now. I think it’s a brilliant idea and I think it’s worth the exploration. It may take a little time to get there, but it’s certainly something that I think is worth some exploration because our nurses, our doctors and our social workers are doing amazing things here in this territory and it’s important to continually recognize our great staff. So, thanks to the Member. Thank you.
Thank you, Mr. Abernethy. Mr. Dolynny.
