E058 Linda Kenny Innovations at KidsAbility

Let’s Be Well Together Podcast - Episode 58
Date: March 7, 2022

Participants: John Webster, Elise Seifert, Cameron Earnshaw and Sheila Webster
Guest: Linda Kenny

Start times and Segments:

[0:00:35] What’s On Your Mind: Elise and John chat about an article on 8 myths about diet, exercise and sleep: (1) popular diets are everywhere, so they must work; (2) it’s okay to take your smart phone to bed; (3) social media can inspire you to diet and exercise; (4) hitting the snooze button helps you get more sleep; (5) you can lose belly fat with crunches; (6) it’s best to stay in bed with eyes closed when you can’t sleep (7) I have to work out or diet all the time to change my body type; and (8) bodybuilding supplements advertised on social media really work. These things are all incorrect.

[0:12:03] Expanding Minds Interview: We interview CEO Linda Kenny of KidsAbility, a leading provider of children’s rehabilitation services in Waterloo Region and Wellington County. It delivers great opportunities for families to see what kids can achieve. Linda introduced us to KidsAbility on Episode 48. This time she talks about innovations. It pays to always be looking for better ways to help children and families. With recent changes in the world, KidsAbility faced a combination of extra referrals and a lack of staff. It was an imperfect storm. It forced their people to think about how they could come up with new and innovative ways to meet the needs of kids, because if they continued to provided services the way they had in the past, then they were never going to make their way through the wait list and they would never get the kids through who they need to see. Not serving kids and families was simply not an option. Incorporation virtual services became a necessity. They gave new ideas ways to grow, which led to innovations.

[0:27:00] Adventures of the Starving Artist: Cameron’s feeling less down than last week. He’s anticipating March and many new releases coming soon, including a short file where his jazz music will make it’s debut.

[0:30:37] Move That Body: Elise feels strong after completing a six-week weight training program. She talks about it.

[0:37:16] Running Popup: John is feeling self-doubt and his ego is making him question himself. He’s working through it.

[0:41:13] Flipside of the Coin: Sheila surprised John, showing him a new dress. John said the wrong thing. Now what?

Quotes and Take-Aways:

Linda – Some change was driven by necessity as we entered into the spring of 2020. Like every other person and organization and employer and service, we really had to come to a screeching halt and figure out how we could change how we were delivering services, because not serving families was simply not an option.

Linda – There are lots of reasons why we needed to have kids come in centre and be seen in person during Covid. We were lucky in the sense that we were deemed a health service and we could start to bring people in. Nobody knew a whole lot about Covid at that point in time, so we were super cautious and considerate about how we could do that in a way that kept our staff, kids and families safe. I’m really proud of our record in that.

Linda – We now have what I would call a hybrid model of service delivery. Some kids are being seen virtually. Some kids cannot and are being seen in person. Some kids are doing a combination of that, where they might have a couple of visits done over screen, then they come into centre for an assessment.

Linda –  I think our most recent data is about three-quarters of our visits are in-person and about a quarter are virtual. I think it’s going to stay that way. That’s a big shift in the last couple years. I think that ratio is the right ratio.

Linda – I think it’s great for families as well. We take our leads from families. Clinicians will definitely provide clinical recommendation, but for some families loading kids into strollers and getting onto public transport, or loading kids into cars and getting to a site in Kitchener or Cambridge or Waterloo or Guelph isn’t the easiest thing to do, especially in the winter or on horrible rainy days. We found that in some cases a hybrid approach is way better for families.

Linda – Not always but sometimes we find more engagement on the whole family in the session when it’s being done virtually, whereas perhaps on an in-person visit then one person attends. We’re trying to find the best of all worlds in all of that. It’s something we would not have even imagined three years ago.

Linda – We started facing a combination of extra referrals and a lack of staff. It caused an imperfect storm. That forced us to start to think about how we could come up with new and innovative ways to meet the needs of kids, because if we do it the old way and try to do services the way we’ve already done services, then we’re never going to make our way through the wait list and we’re never going to get the kids through who we need to see.

Cameron – It’s amazing how much better you feel when you turn off the news for a couple of days and just focus on your own corner of the world, and all the ways you can make it a little brighter and a little better.

Bulletin Board Quote brought to you by Sheila: People won’t be taking sides. Everyone will be taking my side.

Guest Information: Linda Kenny is the Chief Executive Officer of KidsAbility Centre for Child Development. KidsAbility is a leading provider of children’s rehabilitation services in Waterloo Region and Wellington County. Prior to her appointment to KidsAbility in April 2013, Linda was CEO of the Ontario Association of Children’s Rehabilitation Services, the provincial umbrella group representing all 20 Children’s Treatment Centres. A Social Worker by profession, Linda has worked extensively the community services sector, having held positions with SCI Ontario, March of Dimes Canada and Independent Living Services of Simcoe County.  She has built considerable experience in service delivery, client affairs, government relations and community and organizational development.  She’s dedicated to improving the lives and experiences of those who benefit from community services. Welcome Linda.

Website: KidsAbility
Website for the Foundation (including donation link): KidsAbility Foundation

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Thanks for joining us,
(-(-_(-_-)_-)-)   Your wellness check-in team
John, Sammy, Cameron, Sheila, Elise, Isabelle and Julie

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