Social Work

Mission Statement

The Northern Health Social Work Department's mission is to enable all people to develop to their full potential, to enrich their lives, and to promote problem solving whilst respecting their right to make their own decisions.
 

Role of the Social Workers in the Hospital Setting
 
Social workers are members of multidisciplinary teams.  They work  closely with medical, nursing and other allied health staff. Social workers provide services to clients / patients, their families, carers and significant others.  The primary role of the social worker is to develop an intervention plan, based on their assessment, to ensure a safe and timely discharge from hospital.  The following factors are considered by the social worker when conducting their assessment, as they may impact on the emotional well-being of the client, thus delaying the discharge.

• Ability to adjust to illness / disability
• The need to consider lifestyle changes due to illness
• Conflict between family members
• Decision regarding residential care
• Reaction to grief and loss
• Ability to manage anxiety, depression
• Impact of isolation and loneliness
• Impact of a new / special needs baby
• Housing issues
• Domestic violence
• Child / elder abuse and / or neglect
• Cultural issues
• Immigration issues
• Abuse of alcohol and / or drugs

Social Workers provide:

• Crisis assessment and intervention
• Group work, carers' group
• Patient education, for example about domestic violence
• Placements for social work students
• Referral to the community for ongoing support
• Short term support
• Antenatal support
• Palliative care counselling and support
• Assistance with the process of acquiring residential care
• Staff support and debriefing

The Social Work Department

Northern Health's Social Work Department consists of 3 inpatient sites managed overall by the  Social Work Health Service Manager.  The 3 sites are:  The Northern Hospital (TNH), Bundoora Extended Care Centre (BECC), and Broadmeadows Health Service (BHS).  Each site has a social work site manager who reports to the Health Service Manager.  The site managers are responsible for managing their departments including the social work team.  They also provide some clinical work to clients.

Social workers have responsibility to a site manager and have access to ongoing support and supervision from them.  Grade 1 staff have formal individual supervision whilst grade 2 staff participate in group supervision on a monthly basis.  This does not exclude grade 2 staff from having supervision from their site manager as needed.

The social work department supports and encourages the use of evidence-based practice and research.

The social work department in Northern Health practices within the profession's  National and International Code of Ethics.  Social workers must be eligible to join the Australian Association of Social Work (AASW), and thus need to hold a Bachelor of Social Work qualification to be employed in a social work position.

Areas of Work

Acute
The Northern Hospital is the acute setting.  Social workers cover the following areas of the hospital:

• Medical and surgical units
• Antenatal clinic
• Birthing suite
• Special care nursery
• Women's health unit including post-natal unit
• Paediatric unit
• Emergency department
• Critical care unit
• Intensive care unit

Subacute
Broadmeadows Health Service and Bundoora Extended Care Centre are the subacute hospitals.  Social workers work in the following areas:

Rehabilitation unit

• Geriatric Evaluation and Management (GEM)
• Palliative Care (BHS)
• Community Rehabilitation Centre (BECC)
• Community Therapy Services (BHS)
• Aged Care Shared Care
• Northern Community Options (Linkages & CACP)
• ACAS (Aged Care Assessment Service)
• Specialist Services
• BECC at Home
• Planned Activity Group (BECC)
• Residential care

The residential care team consists of a grade 3 social worker and either a grade 1 or 2 social worker from each site.  Thus, the team is made up of 4 social workers who specialise in residential care involving nursing home, hostel placements or interim care.

Students
The social work department has a strong commitment to student learning and takes either 3rd or final year social work students on placement.  Grade 2 staff are expected to be involved in the supervision of students.  The social work department co-ordinated a student unit of 5 social work students with LaTrobe University in 2003 and is planning on repeating this in 2004.

Other Opportunities
Social workers develop their skills, knowledge and experience by working in a range of areas including:

• Federal, State, Local Government
• Non Government Organisations
• Community Health
• Hospitals
• Mental Health
• Drug & Alcohol
• Juvenile Justice
• Primary, secondary schools
• Child Protection
• Family support

In addition to these experiences, Northern Health provides the opportunity for grade 1 social workers to rotate for a 6 month period between the acute and sub acute setting.

Ongoing professional development is available at each site.  Further to this, there are opportunities for the teams from each site to get together.

Peer Support Program
The social work department co-ordinates the health service's "Peer Support Program".

The program was developed to assist all staff involved in a critical incident regardless of their title or position in the hospital.  It is acknowledged that stress is a normal reaction to an abnormal event and that stress affects us all differently.  Peer supporters attend the 2- day Critical Incident and Stress Management training prior to becoming a peer supporter.  Trained peer supporters have different backgrounds including nursing, medical, administration, physiotherapy and social work.  Thus, social workers have the opportunity to undergo this training.

Internal Working Parties
Social workers have the opportunity to become involved in various working parties within the hospital.  Currently social workers are involved in the following.

• Diversity Committee
• Respecting Patient Choices
• Aboriginal Liaison Committee
• Clinical Risk Management Committee

Community Partnerships
The social work department is actively involved with several community organisations, including the following.

• The Domestic Violence Network
• Whittlesea Multicultural Network
• Teenage Pregnancy Interest Group
• Oncology Social Work Group
• Maternity Consumers Group
• Best Start Committee
• Whittlesea Children's Services Network

Voluntary Driving Service
The Northern Hospital social work department co-ordinates the voluntary driving service.  The service was set up to assist the frail and elderly in the community who struggle to attend their outpatient appointments due to difficulty accessing public transport.  The service has grown over the years and now has 11 volunteers participating in the program.

Finally, the social work department participates in the celebrations each May for International Social Work Day.

All inquiries can be directed to Peter Champ:

Contact:
Peter Champ,  Health Service Manager - Social Work
peter.champ@nh.org.au