Social Work

Diagnosis and detection of cancer place the patient and their family in an unfamiliar situation with emotional, familial, social, and financial implications. This creates uncertainty and instability, disrupting the normal routine and sense of balance.

The social worker will receive the patient and their family with the diagnosis and decide on a treatment plan to assess the patient's needs and provide therapeutic intervention throughout the different stages of the illness, ensuring a consistent treatment process.

The social worker will facilitate interventions to help patients and their families cope with emotional distress, process information, and make decisions during the different stages of the disease. They are also responsible for providing patients and families with information about community resources that can support them in dealing with the illness and treatment.

The important time points in the social worker's involvement include the initial diagnosis, waiting for treatment, the beginning of treatment, scheduled periods during treatment, changes in the treatment, treatment completion, recovery or treatment failure, disease progression, and end of life.

The therapeutic intervention includes personal and emotional support, guiding the patient through processing, adjustment, and renewed balance. The social worker provides emotional and concrete support for family aspects and relationship issues.

The social worker provides guidance and support in parental dilemmas, encouraging open communication with children about cancer.

The social worker helps promote the well-being of the patient and their family by connecting them with support services, assistance, and community-based treatments.

Assistance is provided in organizing treatments, such as transportation to appointments and temporary accommodations for patients living far from the hospital.

Rights advocacy is part of the process.

The coping mechanisms in the therapeutic space vary based on the patient's age, diagnosis, stage of illness, family situation, employment status, and other factors. They include:

- Coping with the fear of death
- Coping with the unknown and uncertainty
- Coping with side effects and pain
- Parental guidance
- Body image
- Sexuality
- Financial situation.