Dan Roberge
So how are you? Nice to meet you.
Tara Resnick
Nice to meet you. I'm doing well. Thank you. How are you?
Dan Roberge
I'm great, I'm great. And so, what are you doing here at the trade show? Do you have a booth? Are you just visiting? What are you doing here?
Tara Resnick
We're actually just visiting. We don't have a booth. I am a psycho geriatric resource consultant at North York General Hospital in Toronto. But you call us PRC's for short. We are based all over the province of Ontario. We're based out of different hospitals. And so we are knowledge to practice specialists. So we support staff in long term care, community and Ministry of Health funded settings through complex case consultation, education, core curriculum, things like that.
Dan Roberge
Wow. And so how many are you at North York?
Tara Resnick
In my role? Just me.
Dan Roberge
Just you? Oh, wow. And so how long have you been doing that?
Tara Resnick
Eight years.
Dan Roberge
Wow. So what's your typical day like? What do you bring to the to the hospital as far as your services?
Tara Resnick
So it's actually more of an outreach service. And what I love most about this work is that no two days are the same. And so I support eight long term care homes, and four community agencies, as well as Behavior Sports Ontario funded staff. And I do everything from presenting at conferences, to in services education, complex case consults. I'm a fierce, fierce advocate for older adults.
Dan Roberge
Wow. So how did you get into this? What's your background that that made you interested in this?
Tara Resnick
I'm actually trained as a social worker. My background is specifically specialized in geriatrics, and I worked in long term care for ten years prior to this role.
Dan Roberge
Oh, wow. So do you actually deal with the seniors themselves, or you just educate others about the topic?
Tara Resnick
So yeah, we're staff-facing only. And so we do what's called knowledge to practice work. So we do knowledge translation. But we spend a lot of time really turning evidence-based information into bite sized, digestible knowledge transfer that frontline staff can take and put directly into their practice. And so we are not patient-facing. But as I said, I was for ten years, and I miss it very much.
Dan Roberge
You do? Oh, what do you miss the most about it?
Tara Resnick
So if I'm honest, I was just raised by people who taught me that older adults built our society. They fought our wars. And what I miss most is just being able to advocate, but also hearing their stories and their lived experiences, understanding their personhood, and helping other folks see the person in front of them, rather than the task.
Dan Roberge
Yeah, exactly. What is, let's say, for the coming year, your biggest challenge that you're seeing in your particular environment?
Tara Resnick
Oh, that's a tough one, because I'm not in one environment. I'm all over the place, if I'm honest with you. And it sounds utopian, but it's just honest. I don't I can't foresee a challenge that I can't tackle. So yeah, I wish I had a better answer for you. I'm sorry.
Dan Roberge
So you do a lot of speaking, you said. So what kind of events do you speak at?
Tara Resnick
So basically conferences just like this. AdvantAge, the Ontario Association for Developmental Disabilities. Just last week I was presenting at the TAHSN Day, which is the Toronto area of academic teaching hospitals. I love to talk, if you haven't noticed.
Dan Roberge
And so you're not afraid to talk in front of people. What's the biggest crowd you've ever talked in front of?
Tara Resnick
Oh, probably about 5,000.
Dan Roberge
No way.
Tara Resnick
Yeah. Well, and as I mentioned earlier, I'm a podcast host, and so I reach people all over the world. I'm one of those rare people that actually thrives in public speaking. I love talking.
Dan Roberge
So did you have any prep work to do in front of 5,000 people before, that you were kind of like stressing out about?
Tara Resnick
No, I don't. I mean, nerves for me aren't ever really surrounding public speaking, but the prep work is what I do day in, and day out. So a lot of the topics I would present on, I could probably do with my eyes shut.
Dan Roberge
Yeah. When you know your stuff, you don't have to be nervous about it.
Tara Resnick
Yeah, exactly.
Dan Roberge
Well, it's been great talking to you, and I appreciate the information.
Tara Resnick
My pleasure. Thanks for having me.
.svg){kind=small}