By Jennifer Gazda, LCSW, CMC, CDP
As March is Social Work Month, I decided to share some thoughts and ideas on why you should consider celebrating and showing appreciation for the social workers in your lives, whether they are colleagues, friends, or family. A social worker’s role varies based on the setting in which they work or if they have selected an area of specialization, but each and every role has challenges. I have heard current students of social work recently speak about how they want to work with children, so they do not need to know how to work with adults or understand medical social work. Would you agree or disagree?
Let’s say that I’m a social worker in a school setting and happily write IEP goals, but then it comes time for the IEP meeting, and the parents come in and need extensive support. Maybe one of the parents was recently diagnosed with a crippling disease which is impacting their child’s ability to attend school regularly and receive the needed IEP service. While a school social worker may focus on school-related concerns, they must also address and evaluate the student body and provide the needed resources. All of a sudden, I need to learn how to work with the parents of my student/client, and it sure would help if I had a general understanding of their medical condition and how it impacts their life to be better able to provide support and appropriate resources.
Social workers are often expected, no matter the setting, to know and understand a significant volume of knowledge to support individuals, families, and communities. As a social worker in a hospital or skilled nursing home, for example, one may be tasked with needing to know and understand state and federal benefit programs and associated eligibility requirements, insurance navigation, POLST documents, guardianship information, mental health resource and referral, involuntary psychiatric hospitalization protocols, end of life planning and support, crisis intervention, common medical terminology, assessment, and discharge planning. This is not an exhaustive list, and there is not one course in a BSW or MSW program that will help to teach you how to handle, navigate, and address these items. Educational programs, internships, and practice allow us to hold and address these issues and think on our feet.
Have you ever contacted a social worker to help assist a patient or their family because they were difficult? Because they were confrontational? Because there was suspected abuse or neglect involved? Because someone just died? Maybe you just needed someone to talk to?
Most social workers do not enter the field for fame and fortune. There is typically a call to serve others, a desire to help and support those less fortunate. As a social worker, I am frequently called upon to assist in times of crisis or when others do not know what to do in a certain situation. It is not often that I am thanked for my work with families and I will amidt that some days are emotionally exhausting. When a client or colleague takes a moment to acknowledge what I’ve done, it brightens the whole day and helps fill the cup so to speak. As we celebrate social work month, aim to take a few minutes to thank a social worker, acknowledge their work product and a job well done, tell a story of how what they did may have helped you in some way. A little gratitude and appreciation goes a long way, and hopefully will continue for much longer than Social Work Month!
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Bio: Jennifer Gazda, LCSW, CMC, CDP holds a Doctorate of Social Work from Aurora University and has dedicated the majority of her career to helping the geriatric population and their families. Jennifer has held the role of case manager in a variety of settings including child welfare, skilled nursing, and hospitals. Jennifer currently serves as Regional Director-Midwest for Arosa, provider of private care management and home care services across the country.