The Social Work Department provides support services to patients and their families to help restore, maintain, and improve health, upholding the research mission of the Clinical Center. As interdisciplinary team members, social workers foster collaboration, consultation, and community networking. The department provides culturally sensitive patient care, patient advocacy, community outreach, professional training and engages in psychosocial research. The department directs the Language Interpreter Program.
The department manages the Language Interpreter Program for patients and families with Limited English Proficiency.
The Social Work Department functions as part of the Clinical Center's multidisciplinary team to contribute to the physical, emotional, and spiritual well-being of the patients and their families.
The primary objectives of the Social Work Department are to:
- Screen, assess, and treat patients and their families in order to enhance coping with illness, compliance with protocols, and adjustment to hospitalization;
- Facilitate continuity of care by identifying and addressing the discharge planning and resource referral needs of patients and their families;
- Educate patients and their families about living with illness, participating in research, and accessing community services
- Support the care of patients and families with Limited English Proficiency (LEP) by providing qualified multilingual interpreters;
- Demonstrate leadership in the field of medical social work by providing field instruction to students from accredited graduate schools of social work;
- Develop strategies for psychosocial treatment of illness through active participation and collaboration in psychosocial research; and
- Improve the quality of patient care by conducting ongoing evaluations of psychosocial programs, policies, and procedures.