Coordinating programs that teach coping skills
Coordinating programs that teach coping skills
Social work helps patients discover feelings
At Charlotte (NC) Institute of Rehabilitation, social workers oversee a support group for family members of head injury patients. "Social workers here are assigned to assist families with adjustment and we felt that was one way to address that need," explains Jennifer Woods Parker, MA, MSW, CCSW, a clinical social worker at the institute.
Social workers often are involved in support groups in the role of facilitator. That's because they have the ability to help people feel comfortable talking about the problems and challenges they face following an injury or illness, says Woods Parker.
In addition to support groups, the social work department at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, CA, has created two programs to help patients cope with a cancer diagnosis. The Patient Ambassador Program pairs a newly diagnosed cancer patient with a patient who had the same cancer and method of treatment.
One year after a cancer survivor is diagnosed and treated, he or she can become a patient ambassador. If selected, the ambassador goes through an orientation taught by the social work department that includes communication skills such as listening and observing role boundaries. Because patient ambassadors have experienced what the newly diagnosed cancer patient is going through, they give the patient hope, explains Nellie Garcia, LCSW, director of clinical social work at City of Hope.
A second program offered at City of Hope is the Art Therapy Workshop. Taught in conjunction with a local university that provides the instructor and the supplies, this workshop helps people express their feelings through art.
At the workshops, cancer patients and caregivers are led through a series of exercises. Each exercise begins with a breathing technique, and then patients are asked to express a feeling on canvas. For example, they pick a color to express what they felt when they had to tell their family or a friend they had cancer. They continue the process, doing the breathing exercise and then selecting a color to express a feeling such as how they felt when they had their first treatment. When the canvas is complete, each person at the workshop tells the group what they were feeling as they painted the canvas.
It's important to offer a variety of coping methods because each patient is different, says Garcia. "Some people are verbal, and they can come into my office and vent their feelings. Others cannot do that," she explains.
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