Whether it’s discharge planning, connecting families to vital services, or counseling people about life changing decisions, social workers and senior living community leaders make a real difference. They help to identify people and communities in need of help, create actions plans and connect those in need to community resources that can help them recover, adjust to, and/or improve their situation—from healthcare access, housing, and legal aid.
Social Workers and Community Leaders in Long-Term Care
The role of social workers and leaders alike in long-term care is a vital link to ensuring that vulnerable adults are getting the care and services they need to live their best lives. Kayla Luraas, LNHA, LALD, Campus Administrator at Ebenezer-owned Meadows on Fairview, sees social workers as playing an important role in successfully managing the care transition from hospital to transitional care. “Our social workers are the face of our community. The hospitals know that they can depend on them to connect residents with the resources they need to successfully transition from acute to post-acute care and beyond.”
Making these connections is just part of the day for Megan Szymik, Director of Social Services at Ebenezer’s Martin Luther Campus. From the minute she gets to the office, until she leaves for the day Megan works hard to improve the lives of the people around her. Whether she’s solving problems for residents and their families, or interacting with her talented team of social workers, Megan is always ready to help.
Like most social workers, Megan’s compassion runs as deep as her dedication to her job. “I’ve been at Ebenezer for 10 years—ever since I graduated from college. I love it here. We are like a family.” Over the years, Megan has seen a change in the types of residents she’s seeing. “Our patients are getting younger, and they have more chronic health issues; our community is doing more wound care than we ever have done before. We are seeing an increase in the need for mental health services.” Megan notes that not all of the residents she serves have support from their families, the social services team at Martin Luther is there to bridge that gap and connect them to the community and to the services they need.
As the needs change so does the role but one thing that doesn’t change is the dedication to service and the satisfaction Megan gets from helping others. “My favorite part of doing what I do is interacting with residents, she says, “it brings me so much joy to be able to make people comfortable, to not only connect them with the care and services they need, but to make sure they know that they are part of our Martin Luther Campus family.”
Wearing Many Hats
“To be a social worker, you’ve got to be part advocate, part counselor, part detective and part coach,” said Lisa Jagger, MSW, Palliative Care Social Worker with UC Health. And while her description about social workers is accurate, many would happily add part superhero and part angel—as social workers sometimes rush in where angels fear to tread.
“We wear many hats,” continued Lisa, “in addition to navigating the healthcare system, we have to know about the law and the legal system. We work with patients and families when they are most vulnerable, and they put their trust in us to help guide them through making difficult decisions.”
Lisa went on to say, “You have so much empathy for people as they go through their struggles. You dearly want to have the answers for them, but you can’t always have the answers. That’s so difficult. Sometimes the only thing you can do is just to be there for them.”
This week, we are celebrating social workers and senior living community leaders and all they do for the community and beyond. We thank them for the many contributions they make to improve the lives of others!
