Chronic Illnesses

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Third-generation Trojan Turns to Social Work to Put Together Pieces of Chronic Health Care Puzzle

On May 11, 2022, John Oberg walks the stage to receive his Doctorate in Social Work (DSW) from the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, a long-held goal for this self-described “Trojan for Life” whose grandfather, a surgeon, taught in the USC medical school and whose mother is a USC alumna. He began a pre-med undergraduate degree at USC and then his path led him elsewhere, in the process earning a BA and then an MBA with concentrations in management of technology, policy and planning. Now a quest to bring systems thinking to solve the puzzles of chronic disease healthcare brought him back to USC for an applied doctoral program geared specifically to mid- to late-career professionals. Read Full Article.

Article: The Role of Social Work in managing Chronic Illness Care – Council on Social Work Education

By Grace Christ and Sadhna Diwan*

Managing chronic illness presents a profound challenge to the social work profession, not only because of the myriad formal and informal services required by the increasing number of chronically ill elders, but also because the caregivers, too, require our support and empowerment. As professionals, social workers experience first‐hand the effects of the met and unmet patient needs, which brings with it a responsibility to insure that practice and policy decisions give full recognition to the impact of psychosocial aspects and services that provide total care to chronically ill older adults and their caregivers.

Article: A Population Health Approach to Clinical Social Work with Complex Patients in Primary Care

By Stephen M. Rose, Stephanie Hatzenbuehler, Erika Gilbert, Mark P. Bouchard, and Debra McGill

Chronic diseases disproportionately occur among people from disadvantaged backgrounds. These backgrounds correlate with poor health in adulthood. Capacity for patients’ to collaborate in their care tends to be lower than among other patients, leading to inefficient uses in medical services and higher risk of adverse events. In the course of this study, social workers engaged patients with increased inpatient and emergency department (ED) use and barriers to self-management, and evaluated them for lifetime exposure to material disadvantage and violence.

Article: Invisible Illness — What You Can’t See Does Hurt Her

By Jennifer Sisk, MA

Millions of individuals with chronic illnesses bear the extra burden of family, friends, coworkers, and even healthcare professionals who don’t believe these patients are ill because they don’t “look sick.”

Grieving Chronic Illness and Injury — Infinite Losses

By Kate Jackson

Social workers can help patients better cope with the grief that often has no resolution.

Imagine a person with a chronic illness as forever walking down a dividing line between the past and the future. Looking backward, he can see everything illness has taken from him or has forced him to relinquish. Looking forward, he can’t see anything quite clearly. There’s no going back to the past, and the future is uncertain

Chronic Disease and Social Work: Diabetes, Heart Disease, and HIV/AIDS

Wendy Auslander, Donald Gerke, Stacey Freedenthal

This chapter provides an overview of the epidemiology of heart disease, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS, three common chronic diseases that social workers encounter within healthcare and community settings. It describes practice strategies that social workers can use to promote patient self-management of chronic disease. The chapter also provides a review of strategies that enhance patients’ recall of information and provides instructions for social workers to use in their role as educators. It also describes the relationship between mental health problems and chronic disease etiology and management.

Cancer

Professional Resources

Guide on Becoming an Oncology Social Worker

Article: Everything to Know About Oncology Social Workers

Article: 5 Ways Oncology Social Workers Can Help After a Cancer Diagnosis

Article: The Value of Oncology Social Workers

Article at NASW: Social Work and Cancer Research

Social workers practice and conduct research in cancer-related services and concerns including treatment adherence, survivorship, caregiver issues, and cancer-related health care policy.

Social Work’s Contribution to Research on Cancer Prevention, Detection, Diagnosis, Treatment and Survivorship

Research Article : Cancer nutrition rehabilitation program: the role of social work

That finding suggests that the cnr social worker, in addition to dealing with the instrumental, practical needs of cancer patients, is in a unique position to respond to their emotional difficulties in coping with their illness, and that health care professionals need to pay particular attention to the coping ability of elderly patients.

Article: Mental Health and Cancer
By Sue Coyle, MSW

A cancer diagnosis affects patients not only physically but also mentally—both those with preexisting mental health conditions and those with no history. Social workers must be informed and able to help.

Auto Immune

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Autoimmune diseases are becoming an increasingly serious social problem

Everybody knows somebody with an autoimmune disease these days. Although your neighbour may not be a diabetes patient, you may well have a cousin with Crohn’s disease. Compared to 2 decades ago, when the list of autoimmune diseases consisted of about 20 disorders, today’s list is much longer and includes no less than 156 registered immune disorders. Furthermore, compared to the predominantly fairly well-known disorders such as rheumatism and MS of 20 years ago, today’s list includes much less familiar disorders such as celiac disease and Ménière’s disease. It is becoming increasingly clear that stress is an important contributing factor.

Article: What Are Common Symptoms of Autoimmune Disease?

Article: Autoimmune disease and stress: Is there a link?

Professional Resources

Autoimmune Disease Coping Strategies

Book: Chronic Illness, Vulnerability and Social Work Autoimmunity and the contemporary disease experience

Research Article: Lupus and community-based social work

Systemic lupus erythematous (SLE) is a chronic autoimmune disease that disproportionately strikes women of color.

Article: The Intersection of Autoimmune Disease and Social Work: An Effective Partnership for Health

HIV

What is HIV

Professional Resources

NASW: HIV & AIDS

Profession Association of Social Workers & AIDs

Article: HIV/AIDS Medication Compliance: How Social Support Works

Article: Social Work and the HIV Care Continuum: Assisting HIV Patients Diagnosed in an Emergency Department

Social workers are one of the strongest sources of social support associated with high levels of medication compliance in patients with HIV/AIDS.

In the battle against HIV/AIDS, social workers have been on the front lines since the beginning. Today, social workers help clients cope with HIV/AIDS in a wide variety of settings, including home health agencies, hospitals, infectious disease clinics, and AIDS service organizations. While the doctor’s relationship with the patient seldom extends beyond the clinic or hospital doors, the social worker’s concern reaches into every area of the client’s daily life, confronting the challenges the client faces every day. One of the greatest challenges is remaining compliant with complicated treatment regimens.