March is Social Work Month and this year’s theme is Social Work: Compassion + Action. Individuals who enter the social work field don’t do it for the fame or glory, they enter the profession because they care. They care about people, policies, and advocacy. Social Work Month allows us to celebrate these special people who often go unseen but are so vitally important.
You may not realize it but social workers are everywhere! They work in clinical settings, hospitals and medical offices, in schools and community centers, in child protection and legal realms and in public policy spaces. There are over 700,000 social workers in the United States. Despite years of education, training and multiple certifications, social work is also one of the fastest-growing occupations, and these empathic individuals are in high demand.
One branch of social work near and dear to Bag It is medical social work — especially those in the oncology space. Oncology social workers support patients from “you have cancer” into survivorship. They provide assessments, assist with resource navigation, help with life and memory planning, and, most importantly, they offer emotional support. Oncology social workers are there during the hard conversations with providers and remain with you after to offer kindness, empathy and support. They are the middleman between the medical team and the patient and their family. In a space where everyone else is focused on the cancer, the social worker is focused on YOU — your quality of life, your hopes, dreams, and wishes, and your feelings and opinions.
Social work can be an amazingly rewarding profession. Regardless of the setting they work in, they go in each day knowing their goal is to help others, to improve lives and enhance well-being. Working with diverse populations helps you learn more about the communities we exist in, the varying needs and about yourself. There are endless positives to social work. And, simultaneously, it can be one of the most difficult professions. Social workers see the world at its best and at its worst, they see people at their happiest and their saddest, at the beginning of their lives and at the end. There is heartache and trauma in this work because there are barriers beyond our control. But they return to work, to the front lines of the human experience, day after day.
Here are some additional resources about how Social Workers can help you and your caregiver.
- Five Ways Oncology Social Workers Help After A Diagnosis
- Learn about the Value of Social Workers
- Cancer Care offers free individual and support group counseling to anyone affected by cancer residing in New York or New Jersey
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