When someone is very ill, everyone in the family is affected. The Social Work team recognise that care extends beyond the treatment of physical symptoms to consider the emotional and social needs of you, your family, friends and carers.
Counselling
We can provide counselling and emotional support.
Practical support and advice
You might want to talk to us about finances and benefits, advance care planning, wills, or help with care in the home.
Children and teenagers
We can work with children directly or talk through any concerns you might have about your children. We are totally guided by you and what you need at any given time.
“People often find it helpful to talk through practical things or just to have a chat about how they are feeling. Some of the questions people ask us include ‘how will I cope?’, ‘what should I tell the kids?’ and ‘how will I manage financially?”
-Selwyn, Lead Social Worker
How to contact the Social Work Team
You can call the advice line on 020 8102 5000 or speak to your clinical nurse specialist.
Dying Matters week 2nd-6th May 2022
Talking about grief as we know is a difficult conversation but one that we all will have to do at some time in our lives.
Even when we are told that death is inevitable when it does happen it can be a shock and often catches us unaware. To quote “I know he was dying but I didn’t think it would happen like this and so soon” a wife who lost her partner of 25 years from cancer.
As a team of Palliative Care Social Workers, we support families/ significant others to understand the various tasks that must be conducted when someone dies such as accessing benefits, Bereavement Support Payments, funeral directors, Liaison with Housing Departments, gas and electricity suppliers on our patient’s behalf.
Grief is normal but can be a painful process too. A bereaved person told me that “it’s like a roller coaster, you go up and down, you cry and laugh at the same time you feel relieved, sad and lonely, I feel guilty, maybe I could have done more”
As social workers and counsellors we offer the space to listen to the Bereaved family members who requests our support be it emotional or practical assistance.
We try not to intervene too early because we recognize that Bereavement counselling must be when the patient feels ready. There are individuals who we asses as vulnerable and at risk, for those people we will provide immediate Bereavement support or refer on to the appropriate agencies. Our referrals are from the hospice multi-disciplinary team.
Pembridge Social Work Team