MSW - Social Worker - End of Life

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Reporting clinically to the Professional Practice Chief, Social Work and administratively to the Manager, Clinical Services, works as a member of the integrated Hospice Palliative Care (HPC) Consultation team through the continuum of care for an assigned location to provide clinical social work practice and support in addressing psycho-emotional and social issues to assigned hospice palliative care patients and their families; provides comprehensive therapeutic counseling services to patients and their families including comprehensive social work and psych-emotional and social assessments; collaborates with the Director, Manager and interdisciplinary team in the planning, development, delivery and evaluation of social work policies, services and outcomes for the improved quality, patient safety, efficiency and effectiveness of clinical services.

1. Provides comprehensive therapeutic and clinical services including grief and bereavement counseling to patients and their families referred to the assigned location; participates with the patient, their families, community supports and the interdisciplinary team to coordinate social work services, manage cases and facilitate meetings.
2. Provides direct psycho-emotional services for patients and their families facing complex palliative and/or bereavement issues and assesses the need for psycho-emotional support to both terminally ill patients and their families.
3. Follows up and provides ongoing monitoring of complex psycho-emotional and social situations; evaluates patients in response to clinical interventions and follows hospice palliative care patients throughout the continuum of care.
4. Collaborates with the interdisciplinary teams in patient care and discharge planning by interviewing the patient and/or family to assess and determine care plan and type of service(s) required; arranges meetings and coordinates the development of a care plan and community services for patients requiring hospice placement and/or home support; collaborates with staff, patient and patient's family to determine the most appropriate level of care and effective utilization of available resources.
5. Develops and assists in coordinating the bereavement component of the hospice palliative care program for families, staff and volunteers as a member of the hospice palliative interdisciplinary team.
6. Assists in the development and provision of applicable educational programs for Fraser Health (FH) staff, patients, their families and community agencies on psycho-emotional issues related to illness and disability, grieving and loss by providing in-services, presentations, psycho-educational and support groups and/or training for staff regarding psycho-emotional and social issues related to grief, loss and bereavement facing palliative care patients and their families.
7. Works with community health and other social agencies such as hospice societies, Home Health and family physicians by collaborating in the assessment and management of individuals at risk and making referrals to appropriate resources when longer term treatment or patient follow-up is required.
8. Acts as a resource to patients and families by providing information and facilitating access to community resources and services, arranging referrals and facilitating the development of community resources to support the health of the patient and their families.
9. Provides consultation and educational sessions to patients, their families and other healthcare professionals on issues related to high risk factors, recovery and current practice relevant to hospice/palliative care in the fields of adaptation to illness, anticipatory grief, bereavement and community living support services.
10. Maintains patient records by documenting patient assessments, charting patient information, preparing progress notes and reports in accordance with established standards, policies and procedures.
11. Maintains a variety of records such as workload statistics by recording information into approved formats, collating data, analyzing trends, accounting for variances, preparing reports as required and recommending an action plan.
12. Initiates, develops and carries out approved research activities, program planning and development relevant to the needs of the hospice palliative care patients, families, in collaboration with the interdisciplinary teams by identifying current trends/gaps in literature, writing research proposals, developing and monitoring budgets; follows through with research methodology, disseminates research finding and ensures clinical practices and protocols are consistent with research findings.
13. Maintains development in the Social Work profession by reviewing literature in hospice palliative care area, consulting with clinical and community experts within the field, evaluating clinical practice and participating in professional development activities; represents FH on internal and external committees, as assigned.
14. Performs other related duties as assigned.

Master's Degree of Social Work from an approved school of Social Work. Two (2) years' recent, related clinical experience working with hospice palliative patients and their families, or an equivalent combination of social work education, training, and experience.

Current full registration with the BC College of Social Workers.

Valid BC Driver's License and access to a personal vehicle for business-related purposes.

• Comprehensive knowledge and understanding of emotional and mental health issues related to illness, injury, patient and family cultural dynamics
• Demonstrated skills including crisis counseling, brief therapeutic interventions, loss and grief counseling
• Demonstrated ability to educate and provide consultation to patients, their families and other health care professionals
• Demonstrated ability to develop, coordinate and deliver in-services, presentations to various stakeholders
• Demonstrated ability to make effective referrals by reflecting in-depth knowledge of community resources and strong collaborative skills in working with community health and social agency personnel
• Demonstrated ability to work effectively with others including the ability to working effectively in a multicultural team environment
• Ability to initiate, develop and carry out research activities
• Demonstrated ability to communicate effectively both verbally and in writing
• Demonstrated ability to organize and prioritize workload in a complex environment
• Ability to operate related equipment including applicable software applications
• Physical ability to carry out the duties of the position

Fraser Health is the heart of health care for over two million people in Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley in British Columbia, Canada, on the traditional, ancestral and unceded lands of the Coast Salish and Nlaka’pamux Nations and is home to 32 First Nations within the Fraser Salish region.

People - those we care for and those who care for them - are at the heart of everything we do. Our hospital and community-based services are delivered by a team of 48,000+ staff, medical staff and volunteers.

We are committed to planetary health and value diversity in the work force. We strive to maintain an environment of respect, caring and trust. Fraser Health’s hiring practices aspire to ensure all individuals are treated in an inclusive, equitable and culturally safe manner.

Together, we are the heart of health care.

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