November 6, 2024
Hello everyone!
Welcome to November and the start of a cooler season.
The Beyond Limits conference last week was a great success. Close to 500 people came together to explore the theme of Living your Best Life at Every Stage, from childhood through end of life. The conference reminded us that, although our needs might change as we go through life, we always require dignity, respect and understanding.
November is Indigenous Disability Awareness Month. It’s a time to celebrate the contributions of disabled Indigenous people. It’s also a time to recognize that Indigenous people experience disability at a much higher rate than the general population. They also often experience systemic barriers to services. Services that do exist are not always culturally safe. That’s one reason Dr. Grant Bruno’s keynote presentation at Beyond Limits was so powerful and timely. He shared his knowledge of Indigenous perspectives on disability. He captured the importance of a holistic, integrated understanding of disability – one that includes the person with disabilities, their family, community, beliefs and values. He taught us to respect both western and Indigenous knowledge and worldviews. As we continue to work towards St.Amant’s Truth and Reconciliation Action Plan, Dr. Bruno’s teachings only reinforce the importance of providing services that are safe, welcoming and effective for Indigenous people and families.
On October 22nd, we honoured Jordan River Anderson on what would have been his 25th birthday. Sadly, Jordan passed away in Winnipeg’s Children’s Hospital at the age of 5. He spent his entire life there because the federal and provincial governments could not agree on who would pay for his care at home. Jordan’s Principle states that First Nations children have a right to access the services they need no matter where they are. St.Amant has been a Jordan’s Principle specialized service provider for over seven years. We currently support nearly a thousand children living in First Nations all across Manitoba. It is an honour to walk alongside each child and their family. I thank our Jordan’s Principle team for working with humility and respect to build relationships with the communities they support.
Let’s return to our Strategic Plan Focus Areas. This month, we’ll look at Quality Services. We understand the importance of using research, planning, evaluation, and continuous engagement with people we support and their families to improve our services.
St.Amant’s reputation for high quality services is attributed to staff knowledge and training, a values-based approach to service delivery, and a mindful culture. We can build on that reputation and improve outcomes for people by more fully embracing evidence-informed decision making. That’s why, in the first year of our strategic plan, we are focusing heavily on Quality Services through projects that include strengthening our Human Resource Services, developing a process improvement framework, and a framework for the use of restraints that will uphold the rights of people we support. By working more efficiently, we will be able to devote more time and creativity to supporting more people to accomplish their goals.
I wish you the best in the month ahead and look forward to connecting with as many of you as I can.
Ben
