Spotlight on Field Education |
The Role of a Social Worker at Hospice of Larimer County |
| Social workers at Hospice of Larimer County serve in two different capacities, as a social worker working with patients and their families or as a grief counselor working with grieving clients. The social worker in both cases is a member of the Interdisciplinary Care Team, which is the model for hospice care. |
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| The patient care social worker works closely with a nurse, chaplain, medical director, certified nursing assistant and sometimes a music therapist, art therapist, and massage therapist. This team’s primary focus is to work closely with the patient and his/her family. |
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| A thorough assessment involving all disciplines – medical, psycho-social, and spiritual – provides a complete picture of the hospice patient and assists the team in providing the best possible care for that person. The social worker’s role varies greatly depending on the needs of the patient, but may include counseling and emotional support, help with accessing resources, and end of life planning. |
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| Social workers who work as grief counselors at hospice provide counseling to anyone grieving the death of a loved one; this includes hospice families and any bereaved person in the community; adult, teen, child, or the entire family. They also facilitate grief support groups for a variety of different losses. Social workers in both areas of hospice work are also involved with community education on issues of death, dying, grief, and loss. Grief counselors provide specific education and support in the workplace (Grief in the Workplace) and in the schools (Forgotten Mourners). |
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| Hospice of Larimer County has been an internship site for advanced M.S.W. students for eighteen years. The agency has a strong commitment to providing an excellent field experience to graduate students in the context of an advanced generalist program. A placement at Hospice of Larimer County includes spending one semester as a patient care social worker and another semester as a grief counselor. The M.S.W. student experiences the full range of responsibilities in both of these roles and has the benefit of supervision from two different social workers. |
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| Nancy Jakobsson has supervised M.S.W. students for fifteen years and continues to enjoy working with students who are such open and eager learners. |
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Nancy Jakobsson,
M.S.W. Supervisor |