Transcript
(Fade in to Simplifying the Journey logo)
(Transition to a title card that reads, "Identifying the need for a newcomer navigator at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO)")
(Transition to panorama shot of Parliament Hill in Ottawa that reads, "25,000 Syrian refugees"- narrator speaking)
In late 2015, the Government of Canada
announced a plan to resettle 25,000 Syrian refugees.
(Transition to shot of a healthcare professional working in a hospital setting that reads, "Complex medical needs")
Settlement agencies identified that many of these newcomer families
expected in the Ottawa area
included children with complex medical needs.
(Transition to exterior shot of the hospital entrance at CHEO that reads, "Overwhelming numbers")
Being a children's hospital in the nation's capital,
CHEO was accustomed to dealing with newcomers,
just not in the overwhelming numbers that began to appear.
(Transition to head and shoulder shot of Shirley Roddick, Manager of the Emergency Department at CHEO - Shirley speaking)
Well I would really say it was business as usual
prior to the Syrian refugees arriving.
We have a dedicated certain number of individuals who
are considered bilingual.
We have translators to meet the needs of different languages
but we did not have a dedicated individual
aligned with meeting newcomers to Ottawa.
(Transition to a wide exterior shot of CHEO hospital buildings in winter that reads, "First Syrians arrived" - narrator speaking)
On January 6, 2016, the first six Syrian refugee families
(Transition to time lapse footage inside CHEO's emergency department that reads, "CHEO's Emergency Department")
arrived in CHEO's Emergency Department.
(Transition to a shot of a doctor handing a piece of paper to a young boy as he sits on his father's knee that reads, "Do more")
It was immediately apparent that CHEO needed to do more
than simply treat these young patients and send them
(Transition to a shot of two women and a girl sitting and chatting in a waiting area at CHEO that reads, "Understand their new world")
back to their new homes.
CHEO also needed to not only help these newcomer families
understand their new world, but
(Transition to a shot of a healthcare professional reviewing papers that reads, "Help staff and physicians understand")
also help staff and physicians
understand the world these families had come from.
(Transition to head and shoulder shot of Gerardo Quintanar, Manager of Spiritual Support and Multi-Cultural Services at CHEO - Gerardo speaking)
My name is Gerardo Quintanar.
I am the manager of Spiritual Support,
Multi-Culturalism and Interpretation Services at CHEO.
(Transition to photo of Khaled and Jehan Al Balkhe. Khaled has his arm around Jehan - narrator speaking)
Khaled and Jehan Al Balkhe
came to Ottawa
(Transition to photo of Khaled and Jehan. Jehan is throwing her head back in laughter)
from a refugee camp in Jordan.
(Transition to photo of Khaled and Jehan. Jehan is kissing Khaled on the cheek)
The family home is Daraa.
(Transition to a family portrait of Khaled and Jehan and their five children)
There are five children in the family.
(Transition to a head and shoulder photo of Sedra)
(Transition to a head and shoulder photo of Kenan)
The two oldest are Sedra and Kenan.
(Transition to a close up of the family portrait that focuses on the youngest children, Rayan and Hassan)
The two youngest are Rayan and Hassan.
(Transition to shot of two adults accompanying a child in a wheelchair as they walk down a hall inside CHEO)
The CHEO Newcomer Navigator Program
helps the Al Balkhe family with interpretation
and coordination of care
(Transition to Khaled and Jehan's middle child, Besan, doing crafts with an adult at a table)
between CHEO clinics
and the Ottawa Children's Treatment Centre.
The middle child, Besan,
(Transition to a close up photo of Besan smiling and sitting in her wheelchair)
has global developmental delay with impaired mobility.
(Transition to another photo of Besan smiling and sitting in her wheelchair)
She depends on a wheelchair.
(Transition to a head and shoulder shot of Gerardo Quintanar - Gerardo speaking)
What is very interesting is through the development of
that role of the navigator,
that we started to realize we were doing a
so-so job with other newcomers as well.
I think the Syrians opened our eyes
in terms of the reality of the newcomer's face,
in coming into Canada into the health system.
so it was clear from the get-go
that we will be focusing in this crisis situation on the Syrians
but immediately we realized that what we need is a newcomer navigator.
(Transition to a portrait of the Nakkar family, two parents and three children - narrator speaking)
The Nakkar family left their home in Aleppo
for a refugee camp in Turkey before coming to Ottawa.
(Transition to the parents being counselled by a CHEO worker)
The CHEO Newcomer Navigator
(Transition to shot of the Nakkar family walking through CHEO)
helps with interpretation services
and coordinating care between the hospital
and the Ottawa Children's Treatment Centre.
(Transition to photo of Walid in his wheelchair. His brother stands beside him)
The oldest child, Walid,
was diagnosed with global developmental delay
and cerebral palsy.
(Transition to head and shoulder shot of Gerardo Quintanar - Gerardo speaking)
We need somebody
there to assist the whole
process of these families
during the length of stay,
the follow up afterwards when they go home
or when they go back to the hotel,
or the Ottawa Sophia House, the Reception House,
and we need a follow up to these families as well.
We need somebody who speaks Arabic,
who was familiar with the systems in the hospital
to do that kind of ongoing mediation.
(Transition to photo of Mahmoud Barho and Hanan Aljasem's family)
Mahmoud Barho and Hanan Aljasem brought their family -
(Transition to close up photo of Jned)
Jned,
(Transition to photo of Aya)
Aya,
(Transition to photo of Zayan and Ahmed. Ahmed is giving Zayan a hug)
Zayan and Ahmed - from Aleppo
(Transition to photo of all four children together)
to the safety and security of Ottawa.
(Transition to close up of Zayan smiling as his father holds his hands)
When they arrived, Zayan suffered from chronic renal failure
and required peritoneal dialysis.
The CHEO Newcomer Navigator Program
(Transition to Zayan and his father sitting on a hospital bed)
ensured interpretation services were available at key meetings,
(Transition to a doctor speaking with Zayan's father as Zayan sits on his father's lap)
in particular those that equipped mom and dad
with the skills and equipment
to manage Zayan's dialysis at home.
The navigator ensured the CHEO team members
(Transition to Zayan sitting on the bed by himself and smiling)
were aware of his cultural needs
and that his care plan made the best use
of community supports for newcomers
such as their settlement worker.
(Transition to a profile photo of Zayan looking upwards)
Sadly, Zayan passed away in October, 2017.
(Transition to a succession of photos of the parents of refugee children)
These families and hundreds more,
unearthed the need for more
than just interpretation services.
It was apparent that CHEO needed to offer more
comprehensive assistance to Syrians
but also to all newcomers.
(Transition to a healthcare worker counseling a patient)
To help these families navigate
the complexity of Canadian health care,
(Transition to a woman cooing to a baby in her lap)
including hospital and community based services.
(Dip to black)
