Reaching out to Hospital Social Workers: EA Professionals Can Help Ensure the Best Medical Care and Follow-Up Treatment for Hospitalized Workers and Family Members by Forging Links with Social Workers at Hospitals

Schuetze, Kim, The Journal of Employee Assistance

Employee assistance professionals and hospital social workers share many common bonds. Both work to improve the health, well-being, and productivity of individuals, one in the workplace, the other in hospitals. Both are trained to assess and intervene on specific problems, both speak the language of caregiving, and both provide resources to meet the needs of individuals and their families.

In my experience, unfortunately, hospital social workers and EA professionals often do not work closely together. This is not because one party or the other is unwilling; rather, because each focuses on a specific environment, the two do not naturally come into contact with one another on a regular basis.

I believe there is ample opportunity to change the status quo. Rather than remain in their separate domains, hospital social workers and EA professionals can forge important links and greatly enhance the resources available to them and the clients they serve.

For this to happen, hospital social workers and EA professionals must first understand the resources that each provides to the employee who is hospitalized or whose spouse, child, or other close family member is hospitalized. The next step is to facilitate …

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Publication information: Article title: Reaching out to Hospital Social Workers: EA Professionals Can Help Ensure the Best Medical Care and Follow-Up Treatment for Hospitalized Workers and Family Members by Forging Links with Social Workers at Hospitals. Contributors: Schuetze, Kim - Author. Magazine title: The Journal of Employee Assistance. Volume: 34. Issue: 1 Publication date: January 2004. Page number: 13+. © 2009 Employee Assistance Professionals. COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group.

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