Abstract
The Toronto General Hospital is a 1,200 bed hospital in the core of downtown Toronto. Its Youth Worker Project, begun in 1971, consists of a five-member team of nonprofessionals with varying backgrounds. Their work encompasses four main areas — service, education, research and evaluation, and community involvement.
The project was originally designed as a response to the crisis regarding drug-hurt youth but the goals have gradually broadened until the workers now act as ombudsmen to patients of all ages. Its function is to attempt to ensure that everyone is aware of the availability of treatment necessary to attain the optimum level of total personal health. The workers are involved in direct patient contact in the emergency department, on the hospital wards and in the outpatient department. They do their own case findings as well as act on referrals. The youth workers have also been involved in educational programs for both hospital staff and workers in the community. They have become active members of the Community Psychiatry program.
This paper describes the development and evolution of the project to its present stage. Initial problems and ongoing areas of concern relating to the existence of such an unconventional project in the midst of a large institution are discussed. More and more the term ‘youth worker’ has become a misnomer and should be replaced by ‘people worker’. This development reflects the essential component of the project — the awareness of ever changing needs and the flexibility to respond to them.