U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs is hiring: Social Worker in Redding

Overview

The Patient Aligned Care Team Social Worker provides primary care to veteran patients in a longitudinal, preventive and health-promoting model. The social worker is a PACT member with a veteran panel to ensure care meets the veteran’s needs, as defined by the veteran. The social worker is assigned to Primary Care and covers Urgent Care and Specialty Clinics as appropriate.

Responsibilities

• Provide care to veterans and their families experiencing a wide range of medical, psychiatric, emotional, behavioral, and psychosocial problems.
• Establish and maintain effective therapeutic relationships; assess and treat complicated psychosocial problems of veterans and their families.
• Provide psychosocial care of medically complex patients and offer consultation to colleagues and students on psychosocial treatment and care coordination of complex patients.
• Possess advanced knowledge of medical and mental health diagnoses, disabilities, and treatment procedures, including acute, chronic, and traumatic illnesses, substance use disorders, bereavement, common medications, and medical terminology.
• Participate as a member of the interdisciplinary treatment team to formulate and implement treatment plans identifying patients’ problems, strengths, weaknesses, coping skills, and needed supports.
• Receive referrals from interdisciplinary team members, veterans and/or their families, or from community professionals; conduct thorough assessments to determine psychosocial problems that affect health and access to care, including underlying causes and environmental factors.
• Identify stressors such as adjustment to medical conditions, untreated mental health or substance use conditions, economic instability, legal problems, housing or transportation issues.
• Provide consultation and education to veterans and families regarding community resources, VA benefits and specialty programs, and advance directives; navigate access to community-based services and information/referral for services from VA, government programs, or community agencies covered by Medicare, Medi-Cal, and VA pay programs.
• Assist veterans and families in understanding contributing factors to problems, discuss short-term and long-term solution options, and support positive, lasting changes to reduce stressors.

Wellness, Prevention and Care Coordination

• Provide wellness and prevention education and stress management, with knowledge of Whole Health; facilitate patient/family support groups; participate in shared medical appointments as appropriate.
• Assist veterans and families with coping and dealing with loss and grief in disability, terminal illness, and death.
• Provide case management interventions with the interdisciplinary team to coordinate care toward agreed-upon treatment goals.
• Facilitate community placements through collaboration with veterans, families, and interdisciplinary team members to ensure timely completion.
• Serve as a liaison between veterans, families, the VA, and community resources to ensure thorough service delivery.
• Represent the VA in the community by preparing presentations for community hospitals and provider groups.

Work Schedule

Work Schedule: Monday–Friday, 8:00 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Compressed/Flexible: Not available

Telework: Not available

Virtual: This is not a virtual position.

Administrative Details

Functional Statement #: 000000

Relocation/Recruitment Incentives: Not Authorized