Social Work Services
Clinical Social Worker
The clinic’s social services department understands the broader context of the lives lived by the people who come to the clinic. This means “harm reduction” is the foundation of the philosophy of services at the clinic. Harm reduction essentially refers to a realistic assessment of where “people are at” and offering the care and services that people can access and use successfully. This, in turn, helps reduce the harm people may be causing themselves and helps them move forward to accept more help and eventually make more healthy choices in their lives.
The Clinical Social Worker is primarily responsible for providing social worker services on-site in the primary health care clinic. This includes: providing information and preliminary counselling to individuals, works intensely, in the immediacy of the moment, to connect with clients with needed supports. The Clinical Social Worker prioritizes eminent social needs with regards to: Income Assistance, Advocacy, Housing, Economic, and Travel needs.
The Clinical Social Worker plans and delivers culturally-relevant, gender-specific, individual, group and organizational programs and community capacity building interventions that:
- Foster health promotion and disease prevention
- Address treatment, rehabilitation and/or continuing care needs
- Include self-help and mutual aid options
- Provide support for care givers.
The Clinical Social Worker takes leadership for representing the social needs of individual clients and the population served, as a whole. Also, pro-actively identifies and analyzes issues affecting access to the social determinants of health.
The Clinical Social Worker participates as an interdisciplinary team member by collaboratively engaging in case advocacy, case conferencing and overall case coordination, including case and crisis management. There is on-going consultation with other health care providers about the biopsychosocial factors and their implications for health and well-being.
The establishment and maintenance of working relationships with other Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal agencies to facilitate referrals and treatment plans is an integral part of the Social Work role.
Outreach Social Worker
The Outreach Social Worker is primarily responsible for building relationships, to connect or reconnect individuals to Central Interior Native Health, and to other agencies for assistance and support. To collaborate and to be pro-active on issues affecting access to the social determinants of health. It is essential for the Outreach Social Worker to participate as an interdisciplinary team member to support, to advocate, and to plan and deliver immediate and long term client needs. Here are important aspects towards responsibility and advocacy:
- Be visible and available to people, where they live
- Facilitate client movement towards health promotion and disease prevention
- Participate as an interdisciplinary team member by collaboratively engaging in case advocacy, case conferencing and overall case coordination, including case and crisis management
- Consult with other health care providers about the biopsychosocial factors and their implications for health and well-being
- Plan and deliver culturally-relevant, gender-specific individual, group and organizational level, programs and community based capacity-building interventions
- Work effectively within communities and larger systems
- Provide awareness, education and self-management techniques in biopsychosocial aspects of illness and intervention strategies
From a team based approach, we work to listen to what people need and want; we support and learn by discussing and problem solving strategies to better meet the needs of client. We collaborate to build a strong working relationship, so that we can improve primary health care, not only to clients but to other health care providers in and around Prince George. We appreciate, we share and acknowledge success stories as we maintain relationships and communicate regularly.
Support Worker
The support worker provides a cultural context to health care at CINHS. From an immediate point of contact with culture for everyone walking through the door of the clinic in need of help by providing a welcome and greeting to appreciating cultural needs and practices. The people who access care and services can talk to the ASW in their own language and often share important information that aids in ensuring they have the best care available. The ASW also provides advocacy and support, providing a companion for difficult issues (such as hospital stays).
Finding other supports to enable continuity of care – such as accompanying or providing transportation service for a person to a specialist appointment or another agency are also part of the program.