Ida Cannon said in 1930, “The medical social movement service recognizes that there should be someone within the hospital. Someone definitely assigned to represent the patient’s point of view and to work out with the physician an adaptation of the medical treatment in the light of the patient’s social condition.”

Ida was one of the first social workers to operate primarily within the healthcare system. Since then, generations of social workers have been there within the hospital system to make sure that patients’ mental and emotional needs are being met. In this article, we look at how social workers work with healthcare professionals and why the partnership is so important.

The History of Social Work

Social workers have been active since the late 19^th century. Since their earliest beginnings, social workers have been there as advocates for humans in need. This mission has seen them lobbying for racial equality, providing public assistance for the homeless, and fighting for justice whenever and wherever the need arises.

The actual day-to-day responsibilities of a social worker can vary substantially based on their placement. Some might work closely with children, who have been separated from their families, or who have struggled with their behavior. Others could work within prison systems, nursing homes, the military, or even businesses. And of course, they also operate within the healthcare system.

While the specific responsibilities of a social worker may be subject to change, advocacy is at the heart of what they do.

What Do Social Workers Do Within The Healthcare System?

While specific duties will be subject to the patient’s needs (as well as the needs of their families) the objective is always to make sure that their mental and emotional needs are being met. Responsibilities include but are not limited to:

• Grief counseling
• Meal planning
• Providing support group referrals

Essentially, they are there to maintain the patient’s emotional and mental health so that the doctors and nurses can work on their physical health.

Working With Healthcare Professionals

Generally, social workers have a cooperative relationship with healthcare professionals. They may meet with doctors or nurses to find out what a patient is experiencing, how they have behaved at the hospital, and what their concerns are.

The social worker may then communicate this information back to the patient and their family in a way that isn’t always possible for a healthcare professional to do.

However, this does not necessarily mean that they are there as an ancillary member of the medical team. Social workers’ primary responsibility is to the patient and their family, which, theoretically, could put them in a position of disagreement with the medical team.

Advocating for the Patient

Social workers are not there to make medical diagnoses, nor are they directly involved in securing the patient’s treatment. While their ultimate goal may be to achieve a positive healthcare outcome, they do this by advocating for the patient’s mental and emotional comfort.

This means keeping the patients informed, but it could also mean communicating their concerns back to the healthcare team. They operate as a middle person of sorts, able to provide communication at a more relaxed pace that I not possible for busy floor nurses and doctors.

Communicating with Patients

Social workers are not there to sugarcoat diagnoses or get the patients’ hopes up. Rather, they communicate the truth and provide resources to help the patient and their family deal with it. Sometimes this means helping a patient understand and sort through their various treatment options. Other times it might mean helping them connect with resources for end-of-life care and grief management.

They are also just able to explain things more than a doctor or nurse might. Patients that understand what is going on with them tend to have better emotional, and sometimes even physical outcomes.

Great Need

Patients often have only seconds to communicate with their doctors. Working within a hospital, physicians may be tasked with caring for dozens of people at a time. Through no fault of their own, they can’t sit down and have a lengthy conversation with any single individual.

While bedside nurses tend to have a more significant presence in the patient’s day-to-day routine, they too are primarily focused on providing excellent physical care. This leaves a gap in service. It is common for patients—especially those with a chronic illness to feel depressed or anxious both in the hospital and out.

A healthcare system that treats the physical symptoms but ignores the emotional is incomplete. Social workers can bridge this divide, helping to make sure that the whole patient is being treated, and not just their symptoms.

Financial Planning

It’s no secret that the United States has one of the most expensive healthcare systems on the planet. Treating disease can be financially devastating for families—especially as many leave the hospital with little to no idea of how much they are going to be billed in the coming weeks and months.

Social workers can help alleviate the anxiety this produces by sitting down with patients to discuss their balance and connect them with resources that can help them finance their treatment plan.

Providing Community

While dealing with the disease can feel isolating, there is usually a larger community that can relate to the patient. Healthcare social workers often connect patients to support groups that can help them process their feelings.

For example, there are chemotherapy support groups all across the country. People gather to discuss what they are going through, celebrate triumphs, comfort one another in the event of setbacks, and act as general sounding boards for people who simply want to express their frustrations to a group of people who will be able to understand them.

While social workers may not be by a patient’s side as they exit the hospital and resume their usual routine, they can help them get the tools and resources they need to take care of themselves and experience the best possible mental and emotional outcome during their treatment.

Thinking of Becoming a Social Worker?

Social work is a noble profession with the potential to have a significant impact, both on the lives of individuals, and the community at large.

If you are interested in becoming a social worker, consider getting an advanced degree. By getting a Master’s, you equip yourself with the skills needed to accelerate your career and better serve the people on your caseload.

There are many online MSW programs that provide an excellent, flexible education.