December 19, 2024

The Psychiatry Elves: Bringing Holiday Cheer to St. Joe’s Psychiatric Inpatients 

At St. Joe’s, we believe that care extends beyond treatments — it’s about showing compassion, offering support, and reminding our patients that they’re not alone-especially right now when many patients may find themselves spending their holidays inside of our Hospital.  

This belief is at the heart of the Psychiatry Elves program, a special holiday initiative that has been spreading joy and kindness to inpatients in our mental health and addictions program for the past 12 years. 

For many of our psychiatric inpatients, hospital stays can last months or even years. And while the holiday season is often filled with social gatherings, family get-togethers, and special meals, for inpatients this can mean fewer visits from their loved ones, loneliness, and a feeling of exclusion or being left out.  

Watching this inspired a group of psychiatry residents working at St. Joe’s to fund a program known as the Psychiatry Elves. After their daily shifts, these residents work tirelessly to ensure that no patient feels forgotten during the festive season. This year, they’re planning to distribute nearly 400 holiday gifts to patients receiving care through mental health and addictions program locations at both the West 5th and Charlton campuses.  

Each gift bag is stuffed with cards and snacks and small gifts of comfort, providing a moment of joy and connection during what can often be a challenging time of year. 

“It’s a concrete way for us, as healthcare providers, to show patients the care and empathy that are central to our mission at St. Joe’s. The feedback we receive from both patients and staff each year is overwhelmingly positive. Patients share how much the gifts mean to them, and staff tell us that the gesture makes a real difference in creating a supportive, caring environment during the holidays” shared Tya Vine and Gift Madojemu, who are currently Resident Physicians and the program’s lead Psychiatry Elves.  

This year, the heartwarming tradition of gift giving by the Psychiatry Elves was supported by a $3,000 grant from St. Joseph’s Healthcare Foundation’s Patient Comfort & Kindness Grants: a program made possible through generous donations from our community and the Ever Hopeful Fund.