Did you know that March is National Social Work Month? Our social workers are a vital part of our hospice team, providing emotional support, kindness, and a huge range of resources to help families and patients navigate the details of end of life care. Our social workers help dreams come true (recently one of our patients was able to go to his first ever Pacer’s game!) and they provide the caring emotional support so needed when families are navigating difficult times.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), social work is one of the fastest growing professions in the United States today, with 700,000 professional social workers currently serving. You’ll find social workers in healthcare–such as with us, here at hospice, and also in emergency rooms and as patient advocates in hospital systems. Social workers serve in schools and non-profit organizations, protecting children from abuse and neglect, advocating for good mental health and treatment for substance abuse. Social workers serve in the military and continue to support veterans and their families, and play roles in the larger scope of community-wide health as well.

For more than 50 years, social workers have been making powerful contributions to the well-being of our country. Social workers were instrumental in reforming systems for the better–those you may recognize include Jane Addams, former Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, and civil rights leaders Dorothy Height, Whitney Young, and Ida B. Wells.

But the majority of social workers do what they do not to make a sweeping impact on our society (although they certainly intend and hope to do good) but they focus on improving one life at a time, bringing all their training and expertise and resources to bear on the situation at hand.

Please join us in celebrating our hospice social workers, Susan and Angelica, today and throughout the month! We couldn’t provide our kind, compassionate, patient-and-family centered care without them!