Coptic Hope Center
Ngong Road
P.O.Box 21570 Nairobi,Kenya
Phone: 254-272-5856
mattwa@copticmission.org
Social Work!
Objectives and Responsibilities
We recognize that there are additional needs our clients face which are beyond our scope of care and treatment, particularly economically and socially. Therefore, the social work department main objectives are:
1. To assess the social standing and needs of our clients and their households.
2. To track and retain patients in the program who become lost to follow-up.
3. Help patients to cope with issues relating to stigma and provide linkages to the support group.
Social Work Screening
Screenings in the social work department are conducted at the Hope Center once the client is initiated into the HAART protocol. Screenings document the residential location of each client so that if the patient needs a home visit, the social worker can contact and locate the patient. The screening assesses the socio-economic standing of clients and the level of which they are facing stigma. Through screenings, the social worker can maintain a listing of clients who are facing extreme conditions of poverty or stigmatization for referrals to the support group, outside support organizations who provide anti-poverty services which are outside the scope of our program.
Home Assessments
The Social worker is responsible to conduct home assessments for all patients who become categorized as lost to follow-up. Lost to follow-up means that the client has failed to attend follow-up at the clinic for 6 months or more. Any patient who is lost to follow-up must be visited by the social worker to know the cause for the loss and assess if they can be re-captured into the program.
Apart from lost to follow-up cases, home assessments can be conducted for the following reasons:
• To verify, to the best of the social worker’s ability, that the socio-economic information acquired from the patients screening is true and accurate.
• To confirm the location of a patient
• To follow-up for cases that are home bound or are facing special circumstances needing support.
The Social worker is to report the findings of the home assessment in the respective form. Recommendations for removal of an individual from our program should be brought to the program manager for further discussion.
Social Service Referrals
Often when counseling or treating our clients, you will come across issues that might require social support. For such cases the social work department maintains a listing of local support organizations which supplement the care offered at Hope. The social worker is to establish a relationship with each organization and confirm ahead of time that patients can be referred to them for these peripheral services apart from the health and counseling they receive at our center. Based on the assessed need, the social worker can make referrals accordingly.
Post-Test Club
The Unity Social Club at the Hope Center is a support group, also referred to as a post test club. It is a support mechanism for our clients to meet and discuss issues which are relevant to their lives. The Unity Social Club meets every Saturday at 1 pm. The objective and activities of the post test club are limited to psychological, emotional and social support through group therapy and friendships. New members are supported by the experience of older members who have learned how to cope with their status. The overall goal of the club is to graduate members out of the meeting because of their emotional growth in coping.
We recognize that there are additional needs our clients face which are beyond our scope of care and treatment, particularly economically and socially. Therefore, the social work department main objectives are:
1. To assess the social standing and needs of our clients and their households.
2. To track and retain patients in the program who become lost to follow-up.
3. Help patients to cope with issues relating to stigma and provide linkages to the support group.
Social Work Screening
Screenings in the social work department are conducted at the Hope Center once the client is initiated into the HAART protocol. Screenings document the residential location of each client so that if the patient needs a home visit, the social worker can contact and locate the patient. The screening assesses the socio-economic standing of clients and the level of which they are facing stigma. Through screenings, the social worker can maintain a listing of clients who are facing extreme conditions of poverty or stigmatization for referrals to the support group, outside support organizations who provide anti-poverty services which are outside the scope of our program.
Home Assessments
The Social worker is responsible to conduct home assessments for all patients who become categorized as lost to follow-up. Lost to follow-up means that the client has failed to attend follow-up at the clinic for 6 months or more. Any patient who is lost to follow-up must be visited by the social worker to know the cause for the loss and assess if they can be re-captured into the program.
Apart from lost to follow-up cases, home assessments can be conducted for the following reasons:
• To verify, to the best of the social worker’s ability, that the socio-economic information acquired from the patients screening is true and accurate.
• To confirm the location of a patient
• To follow-up for cases that are home bound or are facing special circumstances needing support.
The Social worker is to report the findings of the home assessment in the respective form. Recommendations for removal of an individual from our program should be brought to the program manager for further discussion.
Social Service Referrals
Often when counseling or treating our clients, you will come across issues that might require social support. For such cases the social work department maintains a listing of local support organizations which supplement the care offered at Hope. The social worker is to establish a relationship with each organization and confirm ahead of time that patients can be referred to them for these peripheral services apart from the health and counseling they receive at our center. Based on the assessed need, the social worker can make referrals accordingly.
Post-Test Club
The Unity Social Club at the Hope Center is a support group, also referred to as a post test club. It is a support mechanism for our clients to meet and discuss issues which are relevant to their lives. The Unity Social Club meets every Saturday at 1 pm. The objective and activities of the post test club are limited to psychological, emotional and social support through group therapy and friendships. New members are supported by the experience of older members who have learned how to cope with their status. The overall goal of the club is to graduate members out of the meeting because of their emotional growth in coping.
Now when the sun was setting, the people brought to Jesus all who had various kinds of sickness,and laying his hands on each one,he healed them.
Luke 4:40