About
We provide:
- crisis intervention
- supportive counselling for loss and bereavement, individual, family and group counselling, financial and practical assistance as well as community liaison and advocacy
Social workers are available to all patients, as well as their families, who are hospitalized or are attending an outpatient clinic. Social workers are part of your child’s health care team at the hospital.
Referrals to social work services may occur automatically as part of the health care team or from a physician, other staff, a community agency or directly from the patient or parent.
A child’s medical or mental health condition can cause a great deal of family stress. The child, as well as other family members, can sometimes have fears and worries which affect relationships and the ability to carry out daily responsibilities. Family members and caregivers may have to adjust to changes in routine and extra financial needs.
Social workers work on teams which deal with short term hospitalizations and provide crisis counseling but can also refer to community counselling as needed
Provide one-on-one counseling for a child or youth or their parents and/or family members
Meeting with the social worker is an opportunity for families to discuss concerns about their child, as well as personal and family stress. Medical and mental health conditions can impact a whole family’s functioning. The social worker can help shed light on issues, work through difficult decisions and plan solutions .When an illness results in a loss, family members experience a range of difficult feelings. Some illnesses are life threatening. However, there are many types of other losses associated with a medical or mental health condition. The social workers can help families begin to cope with the loss through individual, family and group counselling. Additionally the social worker is aware of community resources that may assist the family in coping with their grief and loss.
Social workers lead, or know about, many support groups where family members meet and share with others experiencing similar concerns.
A social worker can help find community resources, whether it is for financial, home support or other community supports.
This can take many forms such as: needing a place to stay while a child is receiving treatment, needing financial assistance with practical needs, navigating the hospital or health care system, sorting out how to get community services.
Advocate for child and family during hospitalization as well as well as in the community
A social worker can be an advocate and help get the services to meet a family’s practical needs as well as help to navigate the health care and community support system.
Our social workers at BC Children’s Hospital and Sunny Hill Center for Children are trained at the Masters level from accredited universities and are registered with the BC College of Social Workers.
