March is National Social Worker Month!
- Mar 4, 2020
- 1 min read
Nobody knows the ups and downs of working with seriously ill patients better than hospice social workers. When challenging situations arise, our social workers are the experts we call. Dealing with everything from food insecurity and unfunded funeral needs to grief counseling and advance care plan discussions, social workers assist patients with skill and compassion.
Photo by Helen Bauer, The Heart of Hospice
When there’s discord among family members, social workers help to coordinate family conferences that can lead to decisions made in the best interest of the patient. They provide grief and bereavement care, offering guidance on guilt, regret, self care, and coping mechanisms. When the other core members of the hospice team don’t have an answer, we turn to our social workers to provide expert advice. Social workers take on some of the most complex issues associated with seriously ill patients and end of life care. Federal regulations even require that a social worker has to be part of every hospice interdisciplinary team.
March is National Social Worker Month. Hospice social workers are a superpower of the hospice interdisciplinary team, our healthcare heroes, and our greatest secret weapon. They make a difference in the lives of terminally ill patients all over the country.
If you’re part of an end of life care team that supports seriously ill patients and their families in your community, take time to tell your social worker how much you appreciate the work he or she does.
No matter who you are, or where you are in your hospice journey, Social Workers are The Heart of Hospice.
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