Carried out with passion
Our Services
We are a private practice of Social Workers that specialize in medical Social Work. Medical Social Work is a field that focuses on meeting the various needs of individuals, families and communities navigating challenges in health and wellness. When people are sick, in addition to physical care, they may need support for emotional, financial and social complications. It can be overwhelming when dealing with the health care system or when planning after-care transitions. Some people may require counselling services to help them process the impact and change taking place in their lives. We address all of these needs as medical Social Workers in many different circumstances.
The goal of our services rendered is to restore social functioning and to address the PsychoSocial Concerns identified during the initial assessment. We assist the patient and their family to move from a situation of uncertainty, anxiety and dependency to one of increased confidence, hope and autonomy.
PsychoSocial Assessment
The Social Work Intervention will commence with a PsychoSocial Assessment to identify all PsychoSocial Concerns. We obtain family history as well as information on the patient’s work environment and community resources to plan goals and start the process of building a supportive relationship with the patient.
Emotional & Supportive Counselling
The counselling service is focused on assisting the patient in adapting to current limitations caused by their illness or injury. Our supportive counselling includes providing the patient with the necessary tools and coping skills to assist them in dealing with the trauma they are experiencing. If the need may arise, supportive counselling services may also be provided to the patient’s family and/or carer.
Family Meeting
In the rehabilitation or subacute setting, we will arrange a family meeting. This meeting is attended by the treating doctor, therapy team, nursing representative, patient and family members. During the meeting, the patient and family receive feedback about the assessments, diagnosis and expected progress. These meetings can be emotionally traumatic therefore, once the meeting has concluded we will assist the patient and their family process these feelings and share coping mechanisms to assist them through this process.
Employer Liaison
Should the need be identified, we will contact the employer of the patient and assist with the necessary arrangements and documentation required. These services are specially rendered to ‘injury on duty’ patients, where we assist with the Workers Compensation Assistance (WCA) Process.
Discharge Planning
This is when we will initiate the process of discharge planning to ensure that the discharge process runs smoothly by identifying the discharge destination and carers involved. This process is paramount to ensure that the destination is safe and any secondary complications, further injury at home or possible re-admissions are avoided. We will also assist the family with resources on residential facilities if needed.
Home Visit
We carry out home visits to assess the patient’s home environment. The occupational therapist assists us in carrying out this process to see if it matches the patient’s needs post-hospital admission and to ensure that it is a suitable environment for recovery.
Carer Training
We carry out extensive plans for thorough carer training. The impact that the patient’s injury has on their psychosocial circumstances are, in many cases, severe and contribute to high levels of stress and emotional distress. These factors are systematically addressed and require further intervention to successfully mitigate the current emotional impact.
Referal to Community Resources
Referrals to community resources will be made should the need be identified. This service ensures sustainability as the patient will not only receive the necessary services while in hospital but also post-discharge.
Follow up Post Discharge
Should the need be identified, we will telephonically contact a patient and their family members to follow up post-discharge.