Medical Social Work

HOME HEALTH SOCIAL WORKER

Social workers in home health care play a vital role in healthcare. If you are having difficulty remaining independent at home, Tahara Health’s healthcare social workers can assist you in finding answers.

The home care social worker works alongside nurses, home health aides, and other members of the home health team to help you navigate the healthcare system and have your needs met. Medicare, Medicaid, and many other major insurance plans cover medical and social services for people who meet the eligibility requirements.

WHAT IS A MEDICAL SOCIAL WORKER? 

Medical social workers are trained professionals who help people with chronic diseases or who are recovering from surgery, illness, or injury by giving them emotional support, advocating for them, and giving them access to resources.

They are problem solvers who find and offer solutions to difficulties affecting patients’ health. Most social workers who work in home care need a bachelor’s or master’s degree in social work. Most states require them to be licensed in order to practice.

Medical social workers in home health often work in patients’ homes. In addition, they may offer care in senior living complexes or group homes.

What is the role of a medical social worker?

Medical social workers can give you important information and help you figure out how to deal with an illness or injury. They help you reach your goals by focusing on the social, economic, and mental aspects of recovery.

Home care social workers, for example, may discover unmet social requirements that make it harder for you to manage your illness. These may include difficulties getting to medical visits, affording prescriptions, or cooking nutritious meals. Home health care social workers can also assist patients who are experiencing symptoms of depression, anxiety, or other mental health difficulties that are interfering with their capacity to manage a chronic condition.

Social Services for In-Home Care

Your Tahara Health home health social worker collaborates with you, your healthcare providers, and other members of the home health team to provide you with the best care possible. In home health care, the social worker’s responsibility is to provide:

• One-on-one health and wellness instruction targeted to patients’ requirements, daily routines, and goals
• Counseling for issues of emotional or mental health
• Help with coping skills
• Advocating for patients and assisting them in communicating their wants and any difficulties that may impact their care to the healthcare staff
• Aid in obtaining financial assistance and health insurance coverage
• Recommendations for useful community resources (e.g., healthy meals, transportation, or social outlets like a local senior center)
• Assist with long-term care planning

   

Requirements for Eligibility

You must fulfill home health eligibility standards and have a doctor’s order for skilled nursing, physical, occupational, or speech therapy to get in-home social services. The criteria are that you need skilled care like nursing, physical therapy, speech therapy, or an ongoing need for occupational therapy; you are under the care of a doctor who has made a home health care plan of care for you; it is hard for you to leave your home without help (for example, from another person or a device like a walker or wheelchair); or you have a condition that makes leaving home medically unsafe.

Expectations from Medical Social Work

With Tahara Health’s home health social work, the first step is an exam to figure out your needs and goals. Depending on your needs and your doctor’s instructions, social workers usually spend about an hour with you at home.

Some of the most common goals of medical social services are to help families deal with the responsibilities of caring for and helping:

• Feel heard and have access to the resources you require.
• Handle your disease.
• Stay as far away from the hospital as possible.
• Enhance your quality of life by satisfying your social and emotional requirements.
• How to Navigate the Medical System
• Gain as much independence as possible so that you can remain at home as long as possible.
• Make a strategy to attain long-term objectives

   

Is home health care a possible option for you?

Managing an illness or recovering from surgery or an injury may be difficult. Our home health social workers can teach you how to manage your disease or guide you through your recovery.