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How Larrabee Spent Her Summer Vacation
A popular vacation destination, Jamaica attracts many tourists seeking fun in the sun. However, what drew BWH social worker Susan Larrabee, MSW, LICSW to the Caribbean oasis were the urgent needs of its residents.
There are eight HIV/AIDS social workers in Jamaica, a country with an estimated 22,000 HIV-infected people.
To help these social workers connect with each other and meet their patients' needs, Larrabee, of Care Coordination and the HIV Clinic, shared her experience and expertise as the primary speaker at a weeklong workshop sponsored by the Caribbean HIV/AIDS Regional Training Initiative.
“We have enormous commonalities with each other,” said Larrabee after allotting her summer vacation to help social workers in the Jamaican city of Kingston. “The struggle of helping people live with HIV is the same, but the resources and support in Jamaica are extremely limited.”
Social workers there have difficulty accessing the Internet, literature and libraries, said Larrabee. There is no professional association for social workers, which leaves them isolated and without much support. Their efforts to help patients are often stymied by poverty and violence as well as residents holding on to stigmas associated with HIV.
Because their profession began in Jamaica only in the last decade, social workers are struggling to establish their place in a health care system slowly transforming from a physician-centered care giving model to a multidisciplinary model. The patients, however, are extremely appreciative of social workers and rely on their advocacy for many care-related issues, such as accessing funds for transportation to appointments and obtaining necessary dental and health appointments quickly, in addition to the emotional support provided by these committed professionals.
“It was enormously satisfying to be there and witness their work and share what I've learned here,” said Larrabee, who hopes to bring one of the social workers to BWH for a different learning experience.