**Unity Health Toronto comprised of Providence Healthcare, St. Joseph's Health Centre and St. Michael's Hospital, works to advance the health of everyone in our urban communities and beyond. Our health network serves patients, residents and clients across the full spectrum of care, spanning primary care, secondary community care, tertiary and quaternary care services to post-acute through rehabilitation, palliative care and long-term care, while investing in world-class research and education.**We invite you to join our dedicated team in continuing to put patients and families at the heart of everything we do—by applying for the role of Social Worker. POSITION SUMMARY:

As a member of the Mental Health Program of the Family Medicine/Urban Family Health Team, the social worker collaborates with physicians and interprofessional team members in providing comprehensive primary health and mental health services to our patients/families across the lifespan.

The candidate provides in-depth bio-psychosocial assessments, diagnostic and appropriate interventions to support patients achieve optimum psychosocial functioning and quality of life. This includes maximizing the benefit the patient and family receive from their medical treatments; providing individual supportive brief counselling and brief therapy; as well as using diverse approaches to develop group initiatives responsive to our population needs within a primary care context. These are delivered in-person, or through virtual care and outreach.

The candidate will enhance the delivery of evidence based primary care services liaising clients with community based agencies and resources within and outside St. Joe’s, and providing information/resources on health, mental health, housing, legal and financial supports as well as promoting client advocacy.

The successful candidate will support health promotion and wellness activities that are central to the delivery of primary care in alignment with the goals of the Provincial Family Health Team initiative. Actively contributes to the academic mandate of our organization by acting as educator, resource or support for staff, and multiple interprofessional learners, as well as members of the professional community.

RESPONSIBILITIES:

A) Direct patient Care

• Provides individual brief counselling and/or brief therapy to patients (i.e. obstetrical patients, isolated seniors, newcomers, mentally ill, addictions medicine)

• Supports patients/clients by linking them to community based resources and services, as appropriate, such as OW, ODSP, Trillium, Community Housing, etc.

• Develops and facilitates groups with an emphasis on self management, chronic care and health promotion for patients, families and caregivers

• Maintains up‑to‑date knowledge of relevant government acts and legislation affecting client care.

• Complies with social work standards of care.

B) Coordination and Collaboration

• Provides direct patient care in collaboration with other members of the family health team.

• Participates in inter-professional teaching, education and research initiatives e.g. medical students, Family Medicine residents, nursing, social work and pharmacy students and dietetic interns, through Behavioural science seminars, community research projects and other teaching initiatives.

• Assists the interprofessional team in

  terms of brief counselling strategies and in providing resources for additional patient support in health, financial, housing, legal, etc and as appropriate

• Participates and plays an active role on networks and coalitions dealing with similar patient population to promote integration of health care social services

• Advocates on behalf of the patient and families to influence practice, policy and outcomes.

• Participate in the team development of an inter-professional model of practice

• Is committed to and participates in ongoing quality improvement initiatives aimed at enhancing services we provide

C) Program Development/Teaching

• Develops and facilitates groups with an emphasis on trauma informed, self-management, chronic care and health promotion for patients, families and caregivers

• Collaborates in the development, implementation and evaluation of educational initiatives for both consumers and service providers.

• Participates in inter-professional teaching, education and research initiatives e.g. medical students, Family Medicine residents, nursing, social work, pharmacy and nutrition learners, through 1:1, seminars, community research projects and other quality improvement initiatives.

• Performs administrative tasks as required, as well as other duties assigned.

Qualifications

• Master’s Degree of Social Work required
• Registration in good standing, with no terms, conditions or limitations in the Ontario College of Social Workers and Social Service Workers (OCSWSSW) required
• Minimum 3 years of recent direct client service experience in a community/primary care setting required
• Demonstrated knowledge of current theoretical frameworks and social work practice standards, particularly within a health equity, antiracism, social responsibility & inclusion frameworks
• Demonstrated clinical skills working with a broad range of client groups and their families, particularly with marginalized populations dealing with complex issues and/or mental health and substance abuse issues, both at the individual and group levels
• Sound knowledge of community resources and proven referral practices
• Demonstrated competence in the design, delivery and evaluation of group programming for patients in a primary health care environment within a trauma informed, self-management, chronic care and health promotion/disease prevention models and approaches (i.e. CBT, DBT, Mindfulness, Solution focused, others)
• Demonstrated experience in teaching, supervising or mentoring interprofessional learners
• Strong leadership, time management and organizational skills required
• Able to function in a fast paced changing environment
• Excellent interpersonal skills and demonstrated ability to work independently and as part of an inter-professional team
• Experience in quality improvement and change management initiatives
• Ability to understand and participate in research
• Proficiency in the use of computers, appropriate software applications, and electronic medical record (i.e. PSS)
• Second language an asset
• Excellent attendance record

Unity Health Toronto is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive organization. We strive to provide a recruitment process that is barrier-free and in compliance with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) and the Ontario Human Rights Code. We understand that you may require an accommodation at any stage of the recruitment process. When you are contacted, please inform the Talent Acquisition Specialist and we will work with you to meet your accommodation needs. We want to emphasize that all accommodation requests are handled with the utmost confidentiality, respecting your privacy and dignity.

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