Medical Social Worker

Company: Pathways Home Health, Hospice & Palliative Care
Location: Sunnyvale
Posted on: May 28, 2023

Job Description:

For over 45 years Pathways has been a Bay Area pioneer, leader, and innovator in Hospice, Home Health and Palliative Care. We provide care at home or in settings such as assisted living, a nursing home, or the hospital. We have offices in Sunnyvale, South San Francisco, and Oakland. Patients and their families know us for our personalized, high-quality care, delivered with empathy, kindness, and respect.
TITLE: -Medical Social Worker
OFFICE LOCATION: -Sunnyvale
PATIENT TERRITORY: Mountain View to Gilroy
SCHEDULE: -Full Time
SHIFT: -Days
The posted compensation range of $36.79 - $50.60/Hour is a reasonable estimate that extends from the lowest to the highest pay Pathways Home Health & Hospice in good faith believes it might pay for this particular job, based on the circumstances at the time of posting. Pathways Home Health & Hospice may ultimately pay more or less than the posted range as permitted by law. POSITION SUMMARY: -Provide medical social services including -psychosocial -assessment, counseling, and community resource information and referrals as part of the interdisciplinary home health and hospice teams.
AREAS OF RESPONSIBILITY:
--- Provides education and counseling to current and prospective hospice patients and their families regarding the Pathways Hospice philosophy, plan of care, and services.
--- Obtains informed consent from patients and families and assists in completing forms required for hospice admissions and discharges.
--- Conducts comprehensive psychosocial assessments including an evaluation of patient/family coping, social service needs, caregiving plans, and bereavement risk.
--- Based on this assessment, develops a comprehensive psychosocial plan of care, including individualized goals, interventions, and projected visit frequencies. Continually reviews and updates -psychosocial -plan of care. Integrates input from other disciplines to create a comprehensive interdisciplinary plan of care.
--- Provides counseling and education to help patients and families resolve issues associated with end-of-life such as anticipatory grief, caregiver stress, anxiety, memory loss -and -other patient mental status changes.
--- Identifies and enhances the strengths of the family system, including maintaining the dignity of the dying patient, assessing -impact -of patient/family's unique cultural and spiritual beliefs on patient's end-of-life needs and educating the interdisciplinary team on this impact as needed.
--- Provides guidance, education -and -referrals to help patients and families access appropriate social services including caregiving resources, advanced planning needs, mortuary arrangements, and/or financial resources.
--- Consistently communicates with family members of both home- and facility-based patients. Maintains timely communication with -patient, family, and facility staff regarding all aspects of patient care.
--- Provides discharge planning for hospice patients when moving to a different care environment or when hospice is discontinued.
--- Knowledgeably discusses and initiates non-pharmacologic interventions as appropriate to promote comfort, improve quality of life, and manage emotional, spiritual, and physical distress.
--- Knowledgeably assesses and manages risk factors in the hospice setting, including behavioral health issues. Conducts screening and follow-up of patients at risk for anxiety, depression, and suicidality. Provides guidance and leadership to other members of the interdisciplinary team regarding mandatory reporting issues such as abuse and neglect.
--- Provides periodic weekend on-call social work services including triage and crisis intervention.
--- -Consults, -collaborates, -and coordinates with the IDG and others involved in the patient's care all patient and family services based on the patient's and family's preference.
--- Attends and actively participates in IDG meetings, presenting relevant psychosocial information concisely and professionally. Also attends and actively participates in educational in-service -trainings -and other agency meetings as requested by Social Services Program Director/Manager.
--- Collaborates with the Volunteer Resources department to train, supervise, and consult with patient care volunteers.
--- Collaborates with Bereavement Department to evaluate bereavement risk factors, develop individualized bereavement care plans, and provide individual and/or group bereavement counseling and education.
--- Participates in facility patient care conferences, in coordination with other IDG members, to discuss and clarify hospice care goals and roles of team members. Initiates care conferences as needed.
--- Demonstrates awareness of and adheres to the safety, infection control, and other policies of the facility.
--- Participates in quality improvement activities related to areas of practice as appropriate.
--- Demonstrates all skills of a hospice social worker, including those skills required by the agency through competency testing.
--- Submits weekly visit schedule of assigned patients as appropriate. Collaborates with Clinical Team Manager(s) to address scheduling needs.
--- Assesses, develops, organizes and delivers teaching materials for assigned home care patients as appropriate.
--- Helps clarify, counsel and explain the use of medical recommendations, services and options offered to Home Health patients to restore, improve and/or maintain -their -optimal social and health adjustment within the patient's own capacity.
--- Assists patients, families and staff to understand, accept and manage the significant social, emotional, and financial factors related to a patient's health challenges.
QUALIFICATIONS:
--- MSW degree from an accredited -graduate -School of Social Work.
--- One year of professional social work experience preferred.
--- Experience and demonstrated competence and comfort working with families in crisis, the frail elderly, the disabled and/or the terminally ill.
--- Current CPR Certificate.
--- California driver's license and automobile insurance

Keywords: Pathways Home Health, Hospice & Palliative Care, Sunnyvale , Medical Social Worker, Healthcare , Sunnyvale, California