Nova Scotia Health Authority

Social Workers help with:

• Adjustment or coping with illness, injury, and disability
• Death, grief, and loss
• Lifestyle changes
• Referral to community agencies
• Complex discharge needs (care at home, nursing home, or other long-term care options)
• Concerns about hospitalization
• Practical support and/ or financial concerns (e.g. equipment needs, information about income support programs)
• Other individual or family concerns (e.g. dependency issues, caregiver stress, family conflict)

Social Workers help by:

Counselling
• Providing counselling around coping, managing crisis, adjustment, bereavement, and resources to individuals, couples, families, and/or groups
Advocating
• Supporting patients and families to access needed services and resources
Collaborating
• Working with our healthcare teams and the community to provide the best care and discharge planning
Educating
• Providing education to patients, families, healthcare teams, and community agencies