SOCIAL SERVICE
DEPARTMENT
The Social
Service Department is concerned with the assessment and management of social,
financial and emotional factors that affect or are affected by the
patient’s illness. It contributes to the acceptance of illness by both
the patient and his family. It utilizes existing resources under the effective
social policy as well as the community supportive network towards the
patient’s recovery and social rehabilitation.
The Social
Service Department is pervaded by ethics and values deriving from the social
work discipline, namely the value of self-determination, respect and advocacy
for patients’ rights, equal treatment, confidentiality.
In
particular, the Social Service
provides the following services:
Support-Counselling:
Assessment
and evaluation of the special emotional, psychological and social problems of
those who contact or are referred to the hospital social services due to their
physical or mental breakdown in order to facilitate the social and
psychological development of the patients.
Guiding-Advocacy
Information,
guiding and mobilization of the service users regarding welfare and social
security provisions (booklet issuing for the uninsured, Healthvoucher
card, Centres for the Certification of Impairment),
disability benefits or pensions, Judicial Support, Political Asylum card,
disability cards and other special programmes).
Participation in the
multi-disciplinary team
The social
worker participates in the therapeutic team (doctor, nurse and other
specialties) and develops every action needed towards the achievement of the
mutual aim, that is treatment and care for the maintenance of health.
She
contributes to the patient’s assessment and treatment including
information about the patient’s personality, his social environment, living conditions, and family relations.
Moreover
the social worker collects any personal, family and social data that is
required towards a more effective and individualized patient’s treatment.
During collaboration with the patient and his family he keeps being updated and
then updates the multi-disciplinary team regarding the patient’s
development.
Post-hospital
Rehabilitation:
The social
worker prepares the patient and his environment for his comeback and adaptation
to his environment. If reintegration is not possible, the social worker cares
for his rehabilitation within a new environment or his referral to other
services.
She also
refers aged people or people with disabilities to appropriate services such
as
§ nursing homes
§ chronic illness clinics
§ hostels for the homeless
§ rehabilitation centres,
§ care centers for the elderly
supervised by the Perfecture.
All necessary
action is undertaken by the social services in order for service users to be
referred to:
§ Shelters for the Homeless
§ Psychiatric shelters
§ Assisted Living Homes
§ Shelters for abused women
§ Rehabilitation programmes
§ Embassies and International organizations
§ Inclusion in Programmes
(Assistance at Home etc)
§ Local actions for the Integration of
Vulnerable Groups (Social Pharmacies, Social Groceries etc)
Long-term care for chronic lonely people, vulnerable groups
(quadriplegic, psychiatric patients, patients living with cancer etc) The
social worker assists patients who are unable to meet urgent basic needs, such as medical equipment.
Support-Counselling
to hospital employees,
who are either reffered by their supervisors or come
themselves to the service to assist in their personal affairs.
Volunteers
Management of volunteer groups or offers towards meeting the
needs of hospital patients.
WHO CAN CONTACT SOCIAL SERVICES
The social services department addresses the
needs of patients or their relatives who:
§ lack supporting network
§ lack social security
§ are homeless
§ face financial hurdles
§ patients-unidentified corpses
§ drownings
§ suffer from severe or chronic health
problem
§ are in need of post-hospital care
§ are refugees, immigrants or of other
ethnic origin
§ have attempted suicide
§ are in grief
§ are substance users
§ face mental health problems
§ hospital employees
WHO IS REFERRED TO THE SOCIAL SERVICES
Social workers are concerned with external or
internal patients that are:
- referred by the medical staff of the hospital
- initiate contact with the social services
- detected by social workers or are referred by
other social services.
OFFICE HOURS
Monday to Friday 07.00 am – 15.00pm