Ms Tan helped 77-year-old Quek Neng Kes, a homeless man, find a rental flat after his leg was amputated in 2006. She still checks in on him. (ST photo: Aziz Hussin)
By April Chong
SENIOR medical social worker Alicia Tan spends half of her work day on home visits, where she makes sure that discharged hospital patients and their caregivers are getting all the financial, emotional and social help they need.
This includes reaching out to elderly patients who live alone or are homeless, and ensuring they get continued support after their release from the Singapore General Hospital (SGH), where she is based.
How is a medical social worker’s job different from that of a general social worker?
“Community work is more preventive, but in a hospital, you meet patients who need help first hand,” said Ms Tan, 30, who described it as a “high pace, high volume’’ job.
Ms Tan meets about 200 people a month: some patients need help applying for Medifund while others need support that may involve years of follow-up.
Because of an infection, a 77-year-old patient had a leg amputated at the end of 2006. The homeless man had nowhere to go after his operation and ended up staying in the hospital for more than a month.
Ms Tan found him some funding and a one-room rental flat, and even helped furnish the place. She still checks in on the man more than two years later.
Medical social workers do not work only with patients involved in accidents or suffering from disease, though.
The 36-person department has to attend to the 300 patients admitted for suicide attempts yearly and also patients who are victims of sexual or family violence.
They even counsel SGH staff who need help.
Fortunately, newbies at SGH are able to turn to their buddy or supervisor for help, and shadow their seniors.
Ms Tan also takes time off to conduct talks for the public and other professionals.
She is one of 89 medical social workers with SingHealth, which is looking to add another 60 or so by 2012. The job requires one to have a degree in social work or its equivalent.
