St Joseph’s social workers and chaplains play an active part in caring for patients and their families. They are members of the teams which include doctors, nurses and other therapists and work closely with patients and their families and carers to meet their social and emotional needs.
This may involve liaising with others services based in the hospice like the children’s bereavement service and outside agencies like social services. It often includes acting as an advocate for patients who need help to gain access to the services they need.
We can help by helping people talk about difficult and painful issues and adjust to new situations, including formal counselling; liaising with cancer charities for resources to improve quality of life, providing welfare rights advice, by assisting people make plans for their care and working with advocates to support people whose first language is not English.
Spiritual care is about sharing a journey with our patients, supporting them in their hopes and fears, dreams, goals and religious beliefs. In this, our Chaplaincy Team works closely with other professional colleagues.
