Baycrest

BrainMatters • Fall/Winter 2022 • 23 WHAT IS THE MEMORY LINK PROGRAM AND HOW DOES IT WORK? Memory Link is a unique outpatient service established to assess, train and support adults with memory difficulties that can occur after a neurological event (e.g., aneurysm, stroke, focal traumatic brain injury) that causes damage to memory structures of the brain. Memory Link taps into preserved memory systems and thinking skills to teach individuals to use external memory aids. HOW LONG HAVE YOU WORKED AT BAYCREST AND WHAT IS YOUR CURRENT ROLE? I have been a social worker with the Memory Link program for 15 years, but I began working at Baycrest in 1993 as a Master of Social Work (MSW) graduate. Within the interprofessional Memory Link team, I help facilitate the intake process for our clients who experience moderate to severe memory challenges after an Acquired Brain Injury (ABI). I assist clients and their family members in accessing a wide variety of resources in the community, RUTH BRICKMAN: A SOCIAL WORK PIONEER AT BAYCREST provide short-term supportive counselling to clients and family members, and facilitate support groups for our clients and their partners and families. My connection to Baycrest goes back generations, as my grandparents and other extended family members have spent time living here in either the Hospital, the Apotex Centre, Jewish Home for the Aged, or Baycrest Terraces (our retirement home). My father and my mother-in- law also have been dedicated Baycrest volunteers. HOW DOES YOUR ROLE AS A SOCIAL WORKER INTERSECT WITH THE WORK OF BAYCREST'S OTHER HEALTH PROFESSIONALS AND RESEARCH INITIATIVES? Memory Link is part of the Neuropsychology and Cognitive Health program, which provides clinical services, education and training, and clinical research on assessing and treating memory and other cognitive abilities in older adults. Research and program evaluation are integral to the work we do. I am proud to work alongside a world-class team of neuropsychologists and other clinicians with expertise in memory and cognition. I am also extremely fortunate to be a part of an exceptional Social Work team at Baycrest, with colleagues connected to a wide variety of inpatient and outpatient programs that serve older adults and the wider community, including specialized services for Holocaust survivors and their families. WHAT IS MOST REWARDING ABOUT WORKING WITH OLDER ADULTS? To listen and learn from people often overlooked or ignored in our society. We cannot underestimate the social work skill of empathetic listening, conveying to those we're trying to help that we hear them and appreciate their unique needs and perspective. This sense of the importance of listening to and advocating for the older adults we often see at Baycrest is extended to our Memory Link clients. I find it incredibly meaningful to help clients find new meaning and hopefulness in their lives following a devastating and life- changing health event. At Baycrest, social workers are essential to help fulfill our mission. Our vision of a social worker is to be a leader and collaborator in gerontology, and to support and sustain a society that values our older adults. We spoke to Baycrest social worker Ruth Brickman about her role in Baycrest's Memory Link Program and her experience working with older adults. R u t h B ri ck m a n Memory Link is part of the Mira and Saul Koschitzky Neuropsychology Treatment Program.

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