Clinical Social Worker - Special Need/Arabic (Al Dhafra)

Role Overview

Clinical Social Worker - Special Needs/Arabic at SEHA, Al Dhafra. The role assists patients, families, and significant others with psychological, social, environmental, financial, and emotional problems by conducting psychosocial assessments and providing interventions to enhance patient quality of living.

Role Purpose

To provide comprehensive psychosocial assessment, care planning, and clinical social work interventions for vulnerable clients and patients, with particular focus on special needs populations and Arabic-speaking service users. The role ensures patient advocacy, safe discharge planning, and coordination of care across multidisciplinary and external agencies.

Key Responsibilities

Casework Management & Assessment

• Lead daily management of workload allocation within the specialist area, accounting for changing and competing demands and prioritizing caseloads accordingly.
• Conduct initial comprehensive person-centered psychosocial assessments and plan individual care strategies to meet identified needs in conjunction with service users, caregivers, and multidisciplinary team members.
• Produce comprehensive assessments of client needs, formulate social care plans, and identify relevant resources to meet individual needs.
• Update patient file history as required by JCI standards.
• Follow up with psychiatric visits from other hospitals to assess patient cases, recording unusual conditions and limitations, and documenting examination time and room number.

Care Coordination & Discharge Planning

• Take care management responsibility for vulnerable clients, coordinating the delivery of social care plans and liaising with appropriate government or charity agencies.
• Participate in safe and effective decision-making to facilitate safe, timely discharge from bedded units and community teams.
• Participate in complex discharge planning with the multidisciplinary team to ensure smooth transition of care for patient and family.
• Liaise effectively with other agencies including government and charity organizations involved in patient care, maintaining and enhancing close professional working relationships.
• Negotiate complex needs across a range of providers and agencies, coordinating care packages and facilitating access to resources and information.

Patient Advocacy & Support

• Act as an advocate for the patient, ensuring their expressed wishes are central when planning care to meet long-term care needs.
• Respect the rights of individual service users and their families, embracing values, spiritual beliefs, and customs.
• Work closely with patients and families, directing them to appropriate resources and support when needed.
• Promote, enable, and empower individuals, families, and carers through representation of rights, advocacy, and nurturing of strengths and capacities to make informed choices about complex life decisions.
• Contribute effectively to breaking bad news and supporting the bereavement process to patients and their families following facility processes and best practices.
• Apply effective communication skills, build rapport, and demonstrate sensitivity to patients' individual and social needs while providing comfort and support.
• Recognize differences in culture, gender, race, ethnicity, religion, language, and socioeconomic status when interacting with patients and their families.

Clinical Interventions & Therapeutic Support

• Engage in providing clinically appropriate psychoeducation and direct therapeutic interventions as warranted to address patient and family psychosocial needs and concerns.
• Provide crisis interventions as needed.
• Evaluate, assist, and counsel children and their caregivers when dealing with issues related to child protection.

Multidisciplinary Team & Coordination

• Participate in multidisciplinary team meetings to discuss and advocate for patient and family needs covering physical, social, and emotional dimensions.
• Promote and communicate awareness of social care, social work context, and anti-discriminatory practice to other professionals, facilitating multidisciplinary working.
• Network and liaise with other professionals and external organizations to provide services to individuals, families, and carers, challenging and questioning when necessary in the best interests of the user.

Legal & Safeguarding

• Consider any legal issues for patients admitted and liaise with admitting authorities such as police, judicial, and prosecution services, providing necessary reports to discharge patients safely.
• Report cases of children and vulnerable individuals who have been physically, sexually, or emotionally abused or neglected by caregivers to the appropriate authority and document findings and response.
• Report vulnerable adults suffering from financial or self-neglect issues to appropriate authorities.
• Be familiar with mental health laws and related legislation including Federal Law No. 10 of 2023 concerning mental health.
• Adhere to ethical guidelines and safeguard women, minors, physically disabled, and elderly individuals against misuse of power while maintaining ethical boundaries and preventing violations.

Special Needs & Financial Support

• Follow up with approved emergency room exempted cases of needy patients, ensuring their treatment coverage is processed and directed to the concerned department.

Supervision & Staff Development

• Provide potential supervision of junior staff, ensuring their adherence to rules and policies as applied in the Section, Department, or Facility.
• Support staff in managing work-related stress and participate in facility wellbeing initiatives.
• Assist in the orientation and training of new employees.

Professional Standards & Compliance

• Maintain and enforce the highest standards of clinical record-keeping including electronic data entry and recording, report writing, and responsible exercise of professional self-governance in accordance with professional codes of practice.
• Maintain and enforce confidential information about patients, staff, and others in accordance with professional codes of conduct and relevant legislation.
• Ensure compliance with all safety and quality control programs and procedures.
• Ensure compliance with applicable precautions for environmental safety and infection control, using interventions that minimize or prevent cross-infection.
• Comply with and ensure that supervised staff comply with occupational health and safety at work policies and procedures.
• Assist in the planning and development of policies guiding service implementation.
• Practice within the expressed limits of established policies and procedures.
• Ensure standard operation procedures and quality assurance tests are maintained across all sections.
• Communicate effectively with colleagues, hold high standards of professional conduct, take accountability for actions, and manage workplace conflicts appropriately.
• Ensure appropriate internal and external sharing of information based on governing policies and procedures.

Professional Development & Training

• Deliver and participate in training and continued education sessions as required by hospital policy and Department of Health licensure.
• Participate in department programs, committees, various hospital committees, and staff meetings.
• Maintain professional development and knowledge by attending lectures, seminars, or online education units.
• Complete and maintain all regulatory requirements including licensure, certification, and mandatory training within established timeframes.
• Participate in adequate clinical supervision as required for professional and technical development.
• Participate in social work research and ensure that knowledge of research literature related to practice is current and reflected in practice.

General Responsibilities

• Manage frequent exposure to highly distressing and emotional circumstances while maintaining substantial mental effort through frequent and intense concentration and attention.
• Continuously reflect on personal biases, limitations, and emotional responses and practice self-care to prevent burnout.
• Be accessible to provide services both during and outside official hours.

Qualifications & Experience

• Two years of experience required.

Additional Information

• Must be familiar with Arabic language to serve Arabic-speaking patient populations effectively.
• Full details are available on the employer's original posting.