Mosaic: A Canadian Home Care Service and a Social Enterprise

On June 24th Jane Teasdale one of the co-owners of Mosaic Home Care Services & Community Resource Centre presented at the Ted Rogers School of Management in the Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) for the 50+ Festival. The theme of the presentation was Working towards a Common Goal of Social & Emotional Health. Jane presented with two other panelists Selena Capone who works with bereaved families and researcher Eliza Chanlder from TMU who discussed disability, justice aging and relational models of care.

Mosaic was the first organization presenting on this panel and our talk was why Mosaic Home Care stands out as an organization. With only 15 minutes to present, Jane highlighted some of Mosaic’s community events, run from their Armour Heights Presbyterian Church hub as well as in and around the wider GTA community as well as relevant excerpts from their many talks and presentations.

“We are all the eyes and ears, the arms, the legs, the beating hearts of our communities. Together, working as a social enterprise, public health, for and not for profit together, individuals, institutions, and corporations. We can create a rich supportive, social, emotional, physical, cultural, spiritual environment. What starts as the few, can easily become the many, and much more. Let us build our social capital, our bonds, our brides, our links, our social enterprise”.

Person centredness extends beyond the obvious health care setting to a person’s home, social habitat, environment and community.

This wider setting has impact on care delivery, health and social and emotional well-being. This is being increasingly recognized through the advent of social prescribing and asset-based community development. Asset based community development, for example, views people, irrespective of abilities, as assets, rather than problems, capable of generating meaning and contribution to our communities.

As a provider of home care services and supports in the community since 2010, we have developed our own model of person centred care focused on the social and emotional needs of the person. At its core we have a meaningful conversation framework for our frontline workers that helps provide a non-clinical lens of engagement. This framework supports empathic communication and creativity and is supportive of identity, personal growth and meaning. This is an ongoing and developing process.

Mosaic Home Care is not just a home care company, it provides community outreach, information and educational resources, social events and activities across the GTA and collaborates community wide. We provide pop up events around the GTA and provide home care services, home care supports and lifestyle companions at home, in retirement homes, hospital and long-term care. We provide services in the GTA, Scarborough, mid-town, downtown, Etobicoke, Markham, Thornhill , Richmond Hill, Vaughan and Woodbridge. This is a large undertaking, but it is a natural organic social enterprise.

The personal component is the identity and independence, autonomy and preferences of the individual not just with respect to their care and health but their personal meaning, opportunity for growth and expression, for meeting their social and emotional needs whatever the stage of life.

These are just a few highlights from our presentation and if anyone is interested in Mosaic presenting to your group, professionals, hospitals, community groups, you can reach out to Jane Teasdale – jane@mosaichomecare.com or contact 416.322.7002 or 905.597.7000.