29
April
2021
Providing Support Remotely Workshop April 14, 2021
On April 14, 2021, SFNFCI hosted a live virtual three-hour workshop on ‘Providing Support Remotely’ in collaboration with Crisis and Trauma Resource Institute (CTRI). The workshop was facilitated by Kelly Smith, a registered social worker, who brought in a range of experience in trauma-informed counseling, Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT), play therapy, mindfulness, and sandtray therapy. We had 24 participants from various SFNFCI groups and networks.
The workshop was put together as part of this year’s disability research project in light of the new realities of agencies and staff shifting into working remotely throughout the pandemic. In the last year, virtual meetings and communication have become integral to the work we do, but it can be challenging when providing support to those who have unique and complex needs. What are the things to consider when working with children with disabilities and their families from a distance?
During the workshop, participants shared challenges associated with providing support in times of pandemic, for example, not having the right or enough resources in the community like phones, computers, or internet access.
“Clients do not have the luxury, or the skills required to become virtual learners, we need to provide a resource for them to keep the communication strong and available for them to move forward”
Others expressed challenges with communication over phones such as misinterpreting language or tones. Participants also shared positives of remote working such as having a more work-life balance, reduced travel time and cost, being able to offer support through creative means, for example, one participant shared how at their agency they have been putting together self-care packages for families and leaving them at their doors and found that to be effective to connect with the family and community members during the pandemic.
Kelly was engaging and shared a lot of her experiences and strategies with using virtual tools such as zoom to provide support to her clients over the past year including how she had been using online games, art, and other activities when she worked with her clients with disabilities. Examples of strategies for providing remote support shared in the workshop included:
active listening,
asking open-ended questions,
having safe words when talking over the phone in case clients get triggered or someone else is with the client when talking on the phone, and
always giving clients an option to choose the communication medium.
Participants were able to practice communication skills with each other in breakout sessions. Overall, participants had positive feedback on the session. They felt like they had enough opportunity to share their thoughts and ideas while learning tips and tricks from the presenter.
“During this time of isolation for clients and most communities, it is difficult for many clients to grasp the changes COVID has bought to their lives and communication has become a problem when assisting clients in remote areas. The workshop is, for me, validation of the challenges we are all facing right now…The virtual communication skills we have in our workplace is good for us to continue working”
“Presenter was engaging and shared a lot of personal experiences”
“During this whole COVID, it was more than exceptional to finally hear and learn positive interactive ways that we can maintain for our own self-care and supporting self-care of others. I thoroughly enjoyed the uplifting positivity that this workshop brought”
Some suggestions participants had for this workshop were:
“Provide the virtual training to workers so we can train the clients”
“It [workshop] should have been longer”
If you would like to arrange the workshop for your agency, please contact our researcher Anuja Thapa @ (306) 250-0740 or via email anuja@sfnfci.ca
To learn more about the disabilities project visit our website: http://www.sfnfci.ca/pages/research-policy-and-standards.html
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