Clinical Social Worker/LICSW

Social Worker

Provides clinical psychosocial intervention, including crisis intervention, individual, couples and family counseling, support groups, and short-term bereavement therapy. Coordinates patient care through the continuum, facilitating the achievement of optimal quality outcomes in relation to clinical care and cost-effectiveness. Collaborates with multidisciplinary team of oncologist, APP, Oncology Nurse Navigator, primary infusion RN, surgeons, radiation oncologists, resource navigators and collaterals to achieve optimal patient care from pre-diagnosis through treatment, survivorship and/or end of life. This is for all disease groups. Provides for the coordination of services to patients/families in the Cancer Center including connection with internal and external resources.

Identifies and addresses high-risk psychosocial factors as well as psychosocial strengths of patients/families/caregivers that impact health status, coping and adjustment (e.g. suicidal or homicidal risk, domestic violence, disabled, child or elder abuse and neglect, physical, developmental or intellectual disabilities, serious mental health conditions, etc.) Assumes responsibility for attending to patients with complex psychosocial risk (domestic violence, protective services, frail elderly, disabled, substance abuse, etc.). Assesses adaptation of families to patients' illnesses, provides crisis intervention, short-term therapy as needed and engage support persons as needed.

Provides biopsychosocial assessment and intervention, crisis intervention, coordination of psychosocial services, and consultation, to reduce cancer-related distress and improve quality of life for patients, families, and caregivers across the trajectory of cancer care; this includes those patients seen for screening for high risk of developing cancer and/or a diagnosis of cancer through to end of life and/or survivorship in collaboration with community mental health partners.

Provides social work intervention to assist patients/families: Responsible for evidence-based facilitation or patient and/or family and/or caregiver support programs or groups area. Demonstrates ability to form empathic relationships with patients/families who have significant emotional adjustment issues. Demonstrates ability to use self in differential, therapeutic ways to address patient/family concerns, problems, issues to achieve optimal functioning. Maintains working knowledge base of techniques for individual, couples, family and group counseling. Assesses adaption of families and caregivers to patient's illness and ensures maximum participation of patients/families/caregivers in the continuum of care process. Responsible for facilitating complex serious illness and goals of care conversations to ensure shared treatment decision-making and effective patient-physician communication.

Provides clinical interventions that are focused on cancer-related distress, are evidence based, goal oriented, strengths based, and short-term and episodic in nature to ensure patient equity and accessibility to social work interventions; modalities include individual, family, and group work.

Provides in-person and/or telehealth services to patients and families/caregivers; method of communication (i.e., in person/phone/Zoom video) is based on clinical assessment.

Completes appropriate evidence-based assessments including Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, PHQ-9, and GAD-7 for each patient so as to inform appropriate and clinical response.

Assumes responsibility/leadership as needed: Ability to cover for supervisory personnel as needed. Ability to make reasoned decisions and provide organization and leadership as needed.

Assists health care team to integrate psychosocial factors: Ability to analyze significant psychological, physical, emotional, social, economic issues of patients/families and to effectively communicate the relevance of such to other health care providers. Ability to identify, analyze and suggest intervention for difficult patient/family management situations. Communicates clinical assessment and recommendations and provides consultation and support to interdisciplinary health care team. Initiates collaboration with interdisciplinary team to manage psychosocial barriers that limit patients'/families'/caregivers' ability to access and/or engage in recommended medical care.

Provides education/consultation regarding impact of cancer on patients and families/caregivers to community, and provides consultation, education, and program development (e.g., support groups, psychoeducational forums, etc.) within the disease-based or service-based team and in collaboration with the interdisciplinary team. Education also includes offering facilitation of palliative care and hospice transitions

Serves as liaison and collaborates with range of community and governmental agencies and resources: Maintains current knowledge of community and governmental resources. Ability to advocate for and obtain access to resources for patients/families. Ability to identify deficits in resources and to advocate for new resources.

Demonstrates commitment to continuous improvement by seeking ways of improving care, effectiveness and efficiency within the department and within the organization. This includes participation in strategic planning for SW department, participation in consult services and programmatic councils to address needs within the institute and for our patients.

Demonstrates flexibility, willingness to innovate, seek new models of care and collaboration.

Demonstrates commitment to cultural sensitivity and cultural competence with diverse populations. Responsible for demonstrating commitment to diversity and equity efforts, including advocacy and self-education to advance knowledge base of the needs and concerns of underserved and marginalized populations.

Responsible for identifying and communicating systemic inequities, their impact on patients, families, caregivers and the community at large and providing recommendations for systemic change.

Documents clinical work. Maintains ability to clearly articulate in writing psychosocial assessments and social work plans of action. Ability to adhere to department standards for timely documentation.

Participates in department meetings and institutional committees: Attends department meetings consistently and promptly. Provides leadership in committee work and meetings [e.g. QI, staff development].

Participates in Supportive Oncology Collaborative meeting weekly with multi-d support team of psychiatry, psychology, palliative care, and social work. The social worker is the primary clinician in the SOC model. Social work performs assessments on all patients referred to SOC. Key components of that assessment include: PHQ-9, GAD-7, Columbia Suicide Severity Rating Scale, and the Serious Illness Conversation. Social work carries out most of the behavioral health interventions in SOC. During weekly SOC team meetings, social work presents patients that have complicated needs/presentations, patients with PHQ and GAD scores of over 10, patients with referral reasons related to substance use disorders (SUDs), serious mental illness (SMI), and early palliative care referrals

Participates in weekly medical oncology rounds for each medical provider so as to collaborate and coordinate care for patients and families—this includes providing communicating clinical assessment and recommendations, consultation and support to interdisciplinary health care team.

Formulates, coordinates, implements psychosocial component of patient/family care: Demonstrates ability to clarify on short and long-term goals with patients/families around psychological, emotional, physical, social, environmental, and economic/financial issues impacting patients' adjustments and recoveries.

Initiates and/or participates in interdisciplinary collaboration to implement psychosocial treatment: Ability to initiate and facilitate interdisciplinary meetings to discuss and/or implement psychosocial care plan. Skilled in ability to communicate effectively with multidisciplinary team within and outside DF/BWH Cancer Center at South Shore Hospital. Demonstrates understanding of the principles of multi-disciplinary team collaboration and maintains effective working relationships.

On call coverage once per week during work hours offering acute interventions for patients who are dysregulated, suicidal, or with other concerning behaviors. This includes completing suicide assessments and facilitating section to higher LOC, filing safety reports, and facilitating/contributing to safety meetings with care team and appropriate collaborators.

Participates in interdepartmental / Institute planning regarding program, policy, procedures: Awareness of adherence to DFCI and department policies and procedures. Ability to work effectively to contribute to development and review of department and interdepartmental policies and procedures and regulatory requirements [e.g. mandated reporting, QI program].

Teaches and supervises social work staff graduate trainees, volunteers: Ability to transmit knowledge of social work principles in an oncology setting [e.g. transference, countertransference boundaries] and psychosocial issues for patients/families [e.g. anticipatory mourning, adaptive coping skills, life review] to others for the purpose of teaching and supervision.

Delivers presentations and seminars to community at large: Organizes and effectively presents [orally or via written materials] psychosocial issues for cancer patients/families. Maintains current knowledge base on social work principles and interventions in an oncology setting.

Participates in psychosocial research: Identifies important areas for psychosocial research. Maintains working knowledge of principles of research. Ability to initiate, develop and participate in psychosocial research projects. Ability to prioritize time to ensure participation in research projects.

Seeks consultation as needed.

Minimum Education - Preferred

Masters Degree in Social Work from accredited program. Current Massachusetts license required.

Minimum Work Experience

Previous experience in hospital or healthcare setting.

Required Licenses / Registrations

LCSW or LICSW - Licensed Clinical Social Worker OR Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker

Required Skills Knowledge, and Abilities

Bilingual English / Spanish preferred. Cultural sensitivity and age specific competency required. Crisis intervention, treatment skills. Strong clinical assessment/