TIPS FROM A SOCIAL WORKER: How Can Social Workers Help?

Social Workers serve as advocates, navigators, counselors, advisors, facilitators, and champions, whose objective is to help improve the quality of life of every person they serve. They are highly-trained professionals with a Master of Social Work degree and required to be professionally licensed in the state where they work.

In the PD community, Social Workers fill a key role as a member of the multidisciplinary care team and help people with PD and their families to navigate the difficult transitions in their journey. They are the connectors to community resources and they have expertise in addressing the psychological, emotional, and often spiritual impact a diagnosis of PD can have on family relationships.

Social Workers can help in many ways:

• Provide PD education, especially for someone newly diagnosed and who may be experiencing anxiety and uncertainty.
• Help you develop a short- and long-term plan of care to anticipate changing needs with a PD diagnosis.
• Connect you to vital support services during the continuum of care to avoid isolation and encourage connection to others with PD.

If you are interested in speaking with a Social Worker, ask your physician for a referral. Many larger medical institutions have at least one social worker in the Neurology department.