Tuesday 21 March is World Social Work Day! This year’s theme is respecting diversity through joint social action, and recognises how communities can drive change that leads to inclusive social transformation.
Monash Health has over 340 social workers across many programs, ranging from mental health, community and inpatient services, including women’s newborns and children’s services, specialist medicine, chronic and critical care, palliative care and sexual assault and family violence services
Jacinta Re, Head of Social Work and Spiritual Care, shared her appreciation and congratulations for the team.
“I would like to say a sincere thank you to all of the incredible Social Workers at Monash Health for the valuable contribution that they make, each and every day. It is a privilege to lead the profession”
To highlight World Social Work Day, we spoke to two of our social work employees, who both recently celebrated Length of Service Awards for 20 years of service.
Linh Nguyen
“It’s challenging work that we [Social Wokers] do, but it gives me enormous satisfaction that we can assist our consumers and their carers.”
Linh Nguyen’s career at Monash Health began over 20 years ago after slightly misreading a job advertisement in the newspaper.
“I thought I was applying for a position at a medical centre. It turned out to be the largest public health service in Victoria. I was over the moon to be offered an administrative position at the Occupational Therapy Department at Monash Medical Centre.”
After completing her Social Work studies, Linh moved to the Social Work Department at Dandenong Hospital. She has since worked as a Social Worker on wards in Aged Care, Mental Health, and on COVID-19 Mental Health wards during the pandemic.
Reflecting on the theme for World Social Work Day 2023, Linh shares a secondment role in 2018 as Cultural Linguistic Aged Care Coordinator with Monash Health Community Dandenong.
“Some of our CALD [Culturally and Linguistically Diverse] consumers tend to fall through the gaps of the system due to language barriers and cultural differences. Some find it difficult to follow through with their My Aged Care (MAC) service referrals and/or have limited knowledge of the services available to them.
“My role was like a bridge between MAC and our consumers. I was able to help our CALD consumers navigate through the system, ensure assessments had been completed, and connect culturally specific community services (e.g., a carer from the same cultural religious background) as our consumers transitioned from hospital back to the community.”
Linh is now a Senior Social Worker in Unit 3, Aged Mental Health Ward at Dandenong Hospital and is keen to share praise for World Social Work Day and her colleagues.
“It’s challenging work that we all do, and we couldn’t do it without the support of our teams and management. It gives me enormous satisfaction that we can assist our consumers and their carers. It is lovely to receive feedback and thank you cards from our consumers and carers for the work that Social Worker and the team have done during their admissions.”
“Happy World Social Work Day!”
Samantha Hughes
“The impact social workers can make is humbling. The reward is in seeing our clients achieve positive outcomes that they often thought impossible.”
Sam started at Monash Health in 2002, as a Grade 1 Social Worker working in Paediatric Oncology and has never looked back. Having spent many years in the Acute Social Work team at MMC in various Paediatric and Adult roles. Her passion for paediatrics and women’s health led her to take on an opportunity to move across to Monash Health Community as the Team Leader of the Healthy Mothers Healthy Baby program, which supports pregnant women dealing with psychosocial complexities.
“It’s really rewarding working with an amazingly dedicated and passionate team. Our clients can often struggle to work with services. We work hard and creatively to engage our clients sensitively and to build trust through respect, acceptance and transparency. Our goal is to empower women to make positive changes to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes for themselves, their babies and their families.”
For Sam, her sense of purpose has kept her interested in the clinical side of social work. She enjoys the variety and the dynamism of her role. Reflecting on the theme for World Social Work Day 2023, Sam shares that respecting diversity, supporting inclusivity, and promoting social justice and equity are intrinsic values of social work.
“We work with a diverse population and need to consider the person as an individual within their environment, inclusive of their intrapersonal and social constructs. Increasing access to healthcare, improving health literacy and promoting health education are all factors that contribute to better health outcomes for individuals, families and communities. If we can support clients in this way, it can increase their quality of life and contribute to the broader community.”
On World Social Work Day, we want to say a big thank you to our Social Workers for all they do!
Approved by Associate Professor Anjali Dhulia, Chief Medical Officer, Executive Director, Medical Services