Job Summary:

In accordance with the Purpose, Vision, Values and Coast Salish Teachings, and strategic direction of PHSA, safety, including both patient and employee safety, is a priority and a responsibility shared by everyone at PHSA. As such, the requirement to continuously improve quality and safety is inherent in all aspects of this position.

Consistent with the inter professional setting the Social Worker, Indigenous Care  provides social work services, including psychosocial assessments and intervention, to Indigenous patients and families to address social and emotional stressors resulting from the interaction of physical, social, cultural and psychological outcomes that may be associated with child health, perinatal issues and treatment, including loss and bereavement services. The Social Worker provides consultation to team members and relevant community agencies regarding child welfare concerns. Intervention services provided by the Social Worker for Indigenous patients and families who are facing complex health care plans and require the additional support no matter where they are discharged to throughout the province includes networking and discharge planning support no matter where they are discharged to throughout the province, crisis intervention, short-term counseling, advocacy, liaison with community services; coordination of resources, consultation with teams, collaboration with community agencies, education, program planning and research.

Duties/Accountabilities:

1.    Conducts comprehensive psychosocial and family assessments by methods such as interviewing the patient and family, obtaining relevant information, gathering social data regarding the patient and family and formulation of assessment and plan of intervention, in accordance with professional practice standards and clinical policies.

2.    Supports patient and their family by understanding the nature and treatment of the presenting issues by providing education, short-term counseling and crisis intervention to families and other relevant caregivers, organizing and facilitating psycho-educational.

3.    Provides proactive, holistic support for Indigenous patients, parents, family/supporters while building and maintaining relationships.  

4.    Facilitates in complex discharge planning with the team, patient, family and community agencies by coordinating regular meetings to ensure psycho-social follow-up; staying connected with patient and family once discharged from the BC Women’s Hospital and/or BC Children’s Hospital and ensuring care plans are coordinated with appropriate referrals and resources regardless of the health authority or municipal jurisdiction to which the patient is being discharged.

5.    Establishes and maintains effective collaborative and constructive liaison relationships with a variety of individuals and groups, including patients and families, community providers, MCFD and Indigenous delegated agency social workers, schools, hospitals police agencies, other health authority leads and front line workers, on and off reserve health agencies/centers, and other agencies, in order to coordinate services across the continuum of health care.

6.    Participates in program planning and development as part of an inter-professional team within Children’s & Women’s Hospital and the continuum of health care. Identifies, promotes and participates in program planning strategies to enhance system processes and resources for patients and their families.

7.    Promotes Indigenous centered and family centered care by participating in relevant committee work within the Social Work discipline, specialized program, hospital setting, and/or continuum of health care.

8.    Acts in public relations and advocacy capacity to represent Indigenous Health to medical staff and other service providers, and to community agencies and their staff by maintaining up to date knowledge of Indigenous Health; provides consultation to staff for the purpose of enhancing knowledge of Indigenous cultures, contemporary social issues and health beliefs; provides information on social and health services available in the communities for Indigenous peoples; participates in committees that integrate Indigenous Health with hospital and community programs by providing input and addressing Indigenous Health.

9.    Collaborates with team members in many forums, both informal and formal, in case consultations by attending team meetings, rounds, and psychosocial forums relevant to women centered and family centered care.

10.    Provides consultation to team members and relevant community services regarding child protection concerns by being knowledgeable of risk indicators and helping the identification of risk situations in keeping with the Child, Family, and Community Services Act and provides consultation from a psycho-social perspective. Reviews and adapts relevant information material; participates in professional development activities to keep up to date with current trends and research, assists with orientation of new staff, students, and other health care professionals; maintains knowledge of community and social work services and resources.

11.    Advocates for the patient and family or caregiver, including after the patient is discharged from Children’s & Women’s Hospital, for resources within the hospital and the community by assessing the financial and other psycho-social needs and works in coordination with community resources to meet these needs

12.    Supervises Master level social work students on field education practicum within the program by performing duties such as demonstrating and explaining procedures and processes and providing input regarding progress. Provides students with the opportunity to observe and take an active role in the treatment of patients and their families.

13.    Provides orientation to new employees and social work staff by explaining the scope of practice within the program.

14.    Provides information and/or in-services to other health care members regarding the Indigenous Care social work role, scope of practice, psycho-social comprehensive assessment and interventions, needs of Indigenous families and family dynamics, and relevant legislation concerning children and child welfare issues.  Provides information on formalized agreements between C&W and MCFD relevant to child protection protocols and other formal agreements with community agencies.  Dissemination of information is achieved through a variety of ways, including but not limited to, team meetings, psycho-social rounds, in-services, and ad hoc telephone calls.

15.    Provides information to inter professional team members of the C&W guidelines, such as Children and Youth at Risk for Abuse and Neglect through a variety of methods, including but not limited to, team meetings, psycho-social rounds, in-services, and ad hoc telephone calls.

16.    Provides clinical consultation on psycho-social issues indicators of referrals and priority setting with inter professional team members by presenting at team days and case rounds.   Presents at in-services within the hospital and community.

17.    Participates in psycho-social research activities and program planning and development relevant to the needs of the Indigenous patient and family by methods such as collaborating with members of the inter professional team, conducting literature searches and planning forums for presentation of findings.

18.    Maintains current knowledge on social work evidence based practice by such methods as reviewing literature, consulting with clinical and community experts in the field, evaluating clinical practice and participating in professional development activities in order to improve care through new practices.

19.    Performs administrative tasks by maintaining clinical documentation, progress notes, workload statistics and updating health records in accordance with established standards.

20.    Builds and maintains respectful and reciprocal relationships with Indigenous peoples and Indigenous community organizations and services.

21.    Performs other related duties as required.

Qualifications:

Preferred hiring for Indigenous qualified candidates as approved under Special Program Status, BC Human Rights Commission.

Education, Training and Experience
•    Master’s Degree in Social Work from an accredited School of Social Work.
•    Minimum 1 year recent related experience with patient and their family with a health condition  relevant to the service area within BC Women’s Hospital & Health Centre and/or the BC Children’s hospital including clinical skills in crisis intervention, assessment, short-term counseling; must have experience in mental health, child protection, child development, women’s issues, intimate partner violence, harm reduction model and grief and loss in a health care or hospital setting; or an equivalent combination of education, training or experience.
•    Current full registration with the British Columbia College of Social Workers.

Skills and Abilities
•    Comprehensive knowledge of Social Work theory and practice.
•    Demonstrated ability to conduct and document a comprehensive psychosocial assessment.
•    Knowledge of the psychosocial needs of women and families with health and/or mental health conditions.  
•    Knowledge of and experience with Indigenous centered care and unique needs of Indigenous populations and health services, in alignment with Paige’s Story (2015) and the Truth and Reconciliation Call To Action report (2015).
•    Knowledge of specific resources for Indigenous patients and families, i.e. First Nations Health Authority, Métis Family Services, VACFSS and other delegated Aboriginal child and family services, Community Health Centre’s/Clinics on and off reserve, etc.
•    Comprehensive knowledge of Indigenous history, cultures, communities, cultural interference, social determinants of health, and Indigenous health policy and direction.
•    Knowledge of child protection issues and relevant legislation concerning children, consents and FOIPPA.
•    Knowledge of formalized agreements between C&W and MCFD relevant to child protection protocols and other formal agreements with community agencies.
•    Knowledge of C&W guidelines such as, Children and Youth at Risk for Abuse and Neglect and Child and Family Community Services Act.
•    Knowledgeable of adoption legislation and related clinical guidelines.
•    Demonstrated knowledge and ability to work with mental health issues, including DSM, and mental health assessment of depression, suicide, and anxiety.
•    Demonstrated knowledge and ability to work with grief and loss.
•    Working knowledge of other health care disciplines and their role in client care.  
•    Demonstrated ability to work collaboratively and effectively in an inter-professional environment.
•    Demonstrated ability to communicate both verbally and in writing, and to deal effectively with co-workers, physicians, other health care professionals, clients and their families, and external agencies.  
•    Demonstrated ability to plan, organize and prioritize work.
•    Demonstrated ability to deal with and/or guide others in resolution of conflict issues.  
•    Demonstrated ability to teach Social Work students and other team members both formally and informally.  
•    Ability to present at in-services within the hospital and community.
•    Demonstrated problem solving abilities.
•    Knowledge of community resources.
•    Demonstrated ability to advocate for women and their families as they navigate the health care system.
•    Working knowledge of research processes and methodology.
•    Demonstrated physical ability to perform the duties of the position.
•    Basic computer literacy to operate a computerized patient care information system.