People skills prove pivotal in assisting Drayton Valley evacuees

Central Zone social work squad steps up to support long-term care residents

Story by Jonathan Koch

RED DEER — When disaster strikes, ensuring the health and safety of the most vulnerable is always a top priority — along with meeting needs that go beyond the medical.

This was never more evident than when wildfires threatened the town of Drayton Valley, 144 km west of Edmonton. As fires raged around the community in early May, social workers from throughout Central Zone pooled their problem-solving skills to help address the emotional needs of long-term care (LTC) residents and their families who were being moved to safety, often several hours’ drive from their homes.

Upon learning that Alberta Health Services (AHS) was evacuating patients and residents from the Drayton Valley Hospital and Care Centre and local continuing care sites, Brigitte Akatey immediately asked: “What can we do to help?

“When the move happened, and everyone is moving helter-skelter, they didn’t know where their loved ones were sent to, so we tried to reach their families to let them know,” says Akatey, Manager of Continuing Care Counselors and Social Work Transition Services in Central Zone. “We were able to support not just the resident but also their family.”

For the families of residents, many of whom were under evacuation order themselves, it would be the first professional contact that they received after fleeing their threatened community.

“They were eager to tell their stories,” adds Akatey. “They were eager to let us know that they are safe, and to assure them their loved ones are safe, and for us to assure their loved ones that they are safe as well.”

Recognizing that many residents found themselves without simple essentials like a toothbrush, the team felt grateful to accept help from the community — receiving blankets from the Canadian Red Cross as well as supplies from local businesses.

Social workers in Red Deer also sourced clothing for the evacuees, and organized activities for Mother’s Day in conjunction with volunteer services, gifting handmade quilts to the female residents.

Long-term care resident Judy Gaehring praised the “top care” she received during her 17-day stay at Extendicare Michener Hill in Red Deer.

“I didn't mind being there at all,” she says. “They were very nice. In fact, one said to me, ‘why don't you just stay here? We all like you’.”

Gaehring also appreciated the toiletries, sundries, and the Mother’s Day quilt she received while in Red Deer.

“They tried to give me more clothes, but everything was too big,” she adds with a chuckle.

Leanne Grant, Central Zone Director of Transition and Specialty Services, also praised the social workers who helped to remind healthcare workers — busily worrying about transportation, patient charts and medications — of the human dimension that “these are families, these are patients”.

“We each have a different skill set to bring to the table,” says Grant, “and it’s with that whole team that we can provide the best care — and (social workers) filled in in areas that I couldn’t have even guessed. They were seeing details that only their skill set could see.”

Akatey and her team say they enjoyed taking that extra step to be there for the evacuees.

“This was a unique experience for us to be a bridge in comfort for both clients and their loved ones — and just portraying that family-centred approach to care in a traumatic situation was very neat.”