The Social Work Department clinical services include Assessment, Counseling, Education, Discharge Planning, and Resource Referral.
Assessment, Counseling, and Education services include the following:
- Adjustment to Illness and Hospitalization
- HIV Counseling Program
- Crisis Intervention
- Coping Skills
- Family Support
- Support Groups (including New Patient Orientation Groups)
- Advance Directives.
Adjustment to Illness and Hospitalization
NIH patients may experience troubling feelings about their medical conditions. The prospect of repeated hospital visits, prolonged absences from home, and financial difficulties can add to the burden of illness. Social workers are able to understand these concerns, talk with patients and family members, and provide professional assistance.
Crisis Intervention
Patients who have coped well at home may experience anxieties in a new setting like the Clinical Center. Medical procedures, such as diagnostic tests, experimental medications, treatments, surgery, and other forms of treatment (including chemotherapy and radiation) can prove to be distressing. The Social Work Department can help address such concerns and facilitate communication with other members of the medical team.
Coping Skills
The Social Work Department helps patients cope with the adjustments associated with illness and assists with issues such as separation from home, family problems, employment concerns, and financial difficulties. Social workers can also recognize and enhance personal strengths, teach new coping skills, and foster supportive relationships.
Family Support
The Social Work Department offers assistance to family members and/or significant others in coping with the many stresses associated with chronic or life-threatening illnesses and in locating resources, such as low-cost housing, in the immediate area. Families and patients participating in pediatric(s) protocols may be eligible to stay at the Children's Inn. Limited financial assistance may also be available in emergency situations. Social workers can assist with all of these arrangements.
Support Groups
The Social Work Department conducts group counseling for patients,
family members, friends, and significant others.
National Cancer Institute (NCI) New Patient Orientation Groups
The Social Work Department hosts New Patient Orientation Groups for
patients undergoing evaluation for participation in clinical trials with
the National Cancer Institute (NCI). These groups provide a general
orientation to the Clinical Center and information about the NCI voucher program. Family members and friends who accompany the patients are encouraged to attend the orientation.
Support Groups
The Social Work Department offers support groups to assist patients, caregivers, and families who are coping with the impact of illness and hospitalization. Contact your unit or clinic social worker for additional information.
Advance Directives
The Social Work Department collaborates with the medical team to facilitate patient education regarding advance directives.
Advance directives are written documents that allow individuals to specify in advance their preferences concerning their health care and/or research participation. Advance directives go into effect when individuals are unable to make or communicate their own decisions.
The two principal kinds of advance directives are the “Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care” and the “Living Will.” A Durable Power of Attorney for Health Care is an advance directive in which individuals appoint an agent to make health care decisions for them in the event that they become incapable of doing so. A Living Will is an advance directive in which individuals specify which medical interventions they would want instituted, continued, withheld, or withdrawn in the event that they are in a persistent vegetative state or diagnosed with a terminal illness and are incapable of making these decisions.
The NIH Advance Directive for Health Care and Medical Research Participation form combines the essential components of a living will and a durable power of attorney for health care and research participation. The NIH Advance Directive for Health Care and Medical Research Participation is designed for use only at the Clinical Center. It may, however, provide guidance as to a person’s preferences when they leave the Clinical Center. This form and directions for its use may be obtained from the Clinical Center Department of Clinical Bioethics.
Discharge Planning and Resource Referral services include the following:
Continuity of Care: Hospital to Community. For example:
- Home health care
- Transfers to other facilities
- Special equipment and supplies
- Behavioral health placements
Community Resource Linkage. Some examples include:
- Social service agencies
- Healthcare services
- Mental health services
- Prescription assistance
- Advocacy organizations
Referral: Clinical Center Resources. Options include:
