Job Description

*ONLY SERIOUS & QUALIFIED CANDIDATES ARE REQUESTED TO APPLY*

Position Title

Medical Social Worker

(Full-time, Regular)

Reporting to

Chief of Operations (COO)

Chief Medical Officer (CMO)

Spiritual Advisor

Function

Social Work, Medico-operations

Location

GPH Rishikesh (Raiwala)

Introduction

Ganga Prem Hospice (GPH India) is a spiritually orientated, nonprofit hospice for terminally ill cancer patients. For over 15 years, the organisation has provided medical, spiritual, emotional, social, and financial support to individuals suffering from end-stage cancer, and their families.

Ganga Prem Hospice puts its patients above everything else, and provides support in ways that go beyond the scope of formal palliative care. Compassion, empathy, sharing, and honesty are our core values, and both the senior management and the staff embody these values.

The hospice has, in its organisation structure, a highly strategically and important position of Medical Social Worker at its Raiwala, Rishikesh location, contributing to the Hospice team with utmost integrity, foresight, and compassion, and keeping in view the underlying ethos of the hospice – providing exceptional counselling and emotional aid, palliative care and support to our patients and their families, are some of the qualities that will be expected of the candidate.

The management will expect the candidate to raise the caregiving standard at the Hospice, and at the same time, be mindful that a charity runs on optimisation of existing resources, and goodwill of our donors and beneficiaries. Therefore, giving due importance to every aspect of the hospice’s social work efforts, and cultivating strong and positive relationships with all internal and external stakeholders is vital.

Job Purpose

To function as an enterprising social worker with a detail-oriented and problem-solving mindset, looking after the hospice’s social work efforts in Uttarakhand and across the country, organisation and administration of own and organisation’s work as well as cultivate and maintain strong relationships with new and existing stakeholders in our network.

To contribute to and continuously improve GPH India’s standards and community perception of Ganga Prem Hospice, by delivering best-in-class service to patients, their carers and the Hospice staff on the whole.

Educational Qualifications

MSW/ M.A. (Psychology) from a top-tier reputed College/University (distance education/via-correspondence degree/diploma NOT ACCEPTABLE)

Computer expertise with fluency and complete comfort with data management and commonly used packages like MS Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Email and standard reporting methodologies

Experience (years and nature)

Range: 2-5 years

Documented social work experience in the medical field with recognised organisation(s)

Top quality English-writing skills. Fluent in speaking Hindi

Experience in non-profit organisations/NGOs preferred

Salary & Benefits

Commensurate to experience and education [Range: INR 20-30,000 per month (gross, all-inclusive)]

Leave encashment

Paid sick leave

Paid earned leave

Provident Fund (as applicable)

Key Duties & Responsibilities (including, but not limited to)

Providing personalised compassionate support to patients and their families to help them manage the psychological, emotional, and social challenges of terminal illness, to enhance the quality of life of the patient through home-care, in-patient facility, outpatient cancer clinics, tertiary care centres, and other services of Ganga Prem Hospice.

Counselling and psychological and social support to terminally-ill cancer patients and their family members at the hospice inpatient facility, home-care, and cancer clinics.

Home visits to cancer patients in Haridwar, Rishikesh, Dehradun, and regional areas along with the Ganga Prem Hospice multi-disciplinary team (MDT) or on one's own, as may be directed by the Management.

Regular, very frequent visits to the leading and Tier-2 hospitals in the region to identify cancer patients who need palliative care and other support, as well as to strengthen the hospice’s relationships with these healthcare organizations.

Continuous and proactive liaison and relationship building with network partners such as schools, colleges, pathology labs, donors, and volunteers.

Careful and diligent assessment (with documentation) of patients' psychological, mental, emotional, and socio-economic conditions.

Close coordination with the rest of the multidisciplinary team for patient-care work.

Supporting patients in applying for financial support from government and other funding agencies, and due follow-up.

Maintain a completely non-partisan viewpoint when assessing patients and their dependents for support.

Assess risk and intervene (clinically) to identify the potential for complicated grief and explore anticipatory bereavement related to possible death and multiple aspects of loss and adaptation along the continuum of illness.

Manage the MDT ‘Patient Care Plan’ for each inpatient, and strive to enhance coverage of more patients in the MDT patient care planning process of the hospice.

Facilitate effective communication between patient/family and the MDT.

Be a substantive voice of reason and advocacy for the organization and contributing to enhancing media and local outreach/network, social media efforts of the hospice.

Be self-driven, self-starting, and motivational in attitude, with willingness to go the extra mile to achieve above-par results in patient care, including during occasional emergency situations.

Assess multidisciplinary and other hospice teams coping with challenging clinical cases and provide guidance, counselling, and debriefing as necessary.

Maintain clear channels of communication and information-sharing within the GPH India team. Working as part of the team, and as a key facilitator. Organize, schedule, and assist the home care teams, through coordination with the multidisciplinary team.

Answer and direct phone calls at the main and other helplines and refer patients according to the medical, psychological, and social assessments.

Manage and enhance community partnerships. Organize and host meetings with the supporters at Ganga Prem Hospice (GPH), India; explaining the organization's vision, mission, and key services extended to the community.

Coordinate a patient's case (inpatient, home care, or cancer clinic patient) as per referral.

Provide general support to visitors or when in contact with such personnel/individuals. Act as the point of contact for internal and external clients.

Plan and schedule visits to tertiary care centres with the multidisciplinary team for review of palliative care patients and provide psycho-social counselling as per the patient’s specific needs.

Support the volunteers and other interested participants to receive the orientation and training for palliative care and coordinate with the multidisciplinary team in facilitating. Assist volunteers to be able to best support GPH India as per mutual interests.

Maintain accurate and detailed work-related records, assessment forms, databases, directories, and review evidence as per internal and regulatory guidelines. Writing and submission of detailed reports and assessments following each home visit/ hospital visit.

Prepare regularly scheduled reports on monthly activities, cancer clinics, home care, and IPD patients and patient case presentation.

Assist, as needed, the administration team in work-related purchases/procurement, receiving, and payment of pending bills.

Assist in using a computer for various tasks as required by the administration team.

Support patients in hospital admissions, diagnostic tests and social welfare initiatives such as rehabilitation, vocational training, etc.

Continuous interaction with internal and external contacts of GPH India, funding organizations, government departments, hospitals, doctors, healthcare professionals, therapists, etc.

Plan, coordinate, manage, and implement support packages to help patients deal with difficulties and overcome dependencies.

Identify and organize opportunities for continued learning of palliative and hospice care for self and multidisciplinary team.

Assess medical, psychological, emotional, financial, and social challenges of terminal illness and provide counselling to staff, patients, families, and carers.

Advocate and counsel each patient's end-of-life wishes and help individuals address the psycho-social and emotional aspects of late-stage illnesses at IPD.

Provide bereavement support to the family at home-care, inpatient facility, cancer clinics, tertiary care centres, etc.

Regularly visit and follow-up on bereaved children that have been supported by GPH India as part of education rehabilitation.

Monitor adherence to safe palliative care practices followed by the hospice.

Contribute to compliance with RMI guidelines and other state and national guidelines related to a medical/hospice facility.

Work towards accreditation of hospice with accreditation boards and associations, as may be directed by Ganga Prem Hospice management.

Review and improve policies and procedures relevant to social work in palliative care and to assess the risks associated with these policies and procedures.

Monitor the social work and support expense and ensure that the hospice optimizes its financial resources, and also to write regular reports on spending and to advise seniors of any predicted overspend or wastage.

Visit the patient as many times and as often as is assessed to be required, and following all protocols and documentation requirements.

Actively participate in, and initiating expense optimization measures in the hospice.

Attend ward rounds and assess inpatients’ current state and experience, and discuss any observations with the multidisciplinary team.

Maintain excellent verbal and written communication with the team, patients, and patients' family members and carers.

Speak with patients, their caregivers, in an empathetic manner, while respecting patient confidentiality.

Participate positively and flexibly in the total care of inpatients, outpatients, and other patients.

Help, as needed, patients and carers to improve their understanding of the illness and palliative care plan and its role.

Assist in liaison with donors (individual and organizational) for procuring supplies for the hospice.

Maintain current knowledge of social work and palliative care by attending educational workshops, reviewing professional publications, establishing personal networks, and participating in professional communities.

Attend CME sessions held at, and organized by the hospice.

Attend multidisciplinary clinical and other meetings as and when required and advised.

Represent Ganga Prem Hospice at professional or educational fora wherever the social worker may be recommended for participation.

Contribute to the total care of patients, medical and non-medical staff by adhering to infection-control protocols.

Maintain a safe and clean working environment by complying with procedures, rules, and regulations.

Participate in systems’ improvement and quality improvement initiatives of the hospice.

Remain up-to-date with in-depth knowledge, expertise, and best practices in working with ethnic, cultural, and economic diversity; family and support networks; multidimensional symptom management; bereavement; interdisciplinary practice; interventions across the life cycle; and navigating health care systems.

Able to lead, as required, and contribute to the development of an in-house social work team and a larger external network of social workers.

Contribute to research, analysis, and journal publishing efforts with the objective of developing the hospice as a Centre of Excellence (CoE).

Actively identify and remediate (directly and/or with Management support) any hospice- and staff-related grievances, differences, and psychological difficulties.

Work in cross-functional tasks and activities by organizing and/or participating.

Receive work-related instructions and advice from superiors and peers with positivity.

Contribute to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed.

Assist with the physical movement of patients within the office premises and other spaces when necessary.

** If interested, as part of your preparation, you could visit www.gangapremhospice.org and our social media handles. We, at Ganga Prem Hospice Rishikesh, wish you the very best in your job search. May you find the best opportunities. Take care **

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