Why Social Workers are Valuable in Hospice Care

Hospice care is involved in the final stage of millions of people’s lives, and the overall goal is to provide patients with a happy place to spend their time. They take the burden off of families to look after the vulnerable, while also offering lots of benefits to the patients themselves. For this reason, social workers are vital components of hospice care, and while they are often forgotten about, they are essential pieces of the puzzle.

They Become Like Family

While the patients that live in home hospices are usually visited from time to time by their family members, it’s the other people that are around them in the hospice that see them most. This means other patients are often close friends, but the staff and social workers are the ones that really become like family to them.

Taking care of the patients every day means social workers form strong bonds with them. There are many challenges families and patients must face when loved ones are in a hospice, and they come in both practical and emotional forms. Social workers are the catalysts that make everything go smoothly, all while providing a friendly face for your loved one to see every day as well.

Additional Sources of Help

Hospice patients’ lives can be made very easy with the right social workers around them. They work with the family and the patient to ensure their time at the hospice is as pleasant as possible, and so their job can involve taking on many different roles. While under the direction of the family and the patient, social workers offer advice, providing the patient with all of the physical things they need for hospice care, along with any emotional assistance they require too.

Expertise

But social workers also bring a lot of skill and expertise to the table as well. They can assess the situation and help decide what the best course of action is for a patient and their family. They will ensure that everything is safe for the patient, taking every precaution to aid with the patient’s physical mobility and also to ensure their environment is emotionally safe as well.

Emotional Stability

Choosing a hospice for your loved ones is not an easy decision to make. While many see it as the end of the road for patients, social workers are the ones that ensure all of the patient’s time spent in the hospice is comfortable and enjoyable. They act as the link between the patient and their families, providing the emotional support they need, to make life as easy as possible for both the patient and their family.