Supporting Caregivers: Observations of a Transplant Social Worker
Psychosocial assessments are a required component of a comprehensive transplant work-up. One aspect of this assessment is determining the breadth and depth of a patient’s support system. The transplant team, often the social worker, will provide direction to the support person about expectations of the healthcare team pre, peri and post transplant. While recommendations about resources for support people are often made, there is a paucity of support for caregivers, as the focus is primarily on the patient. There is a need for more funding and resources for caregivers of transplant patients, as they are a vital component to transplant success.
Dee Miner’s bio
Dee Miner has both a Bachelor’s
and a Master’s degree in clinical social work from the University of Calgary. She has been practicing medical social work with Alberta Health Services for 18 years. Her last 14 years have been as the Liver and Lungtransplant social worker for the Southern Alberta Transplant Program at Foothills Hospital in Calgary. In addition to supporting patients both pre and post transplant, she is responsible for completing the psychosocial assessments prior to transplant listing. To date her research has been focused on teaching coping skills to pre-transplant patients.