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How do you get on public transportation with a ventricular assist device (VAD)? What do you do if someone is staring at you because the VAD makes a ticking sound?
Questions like these are often on the minds of patients receiving a VAD. Every month, they can get their answers from people who have already been through the same experience during a support group run by Kristyn Morrissey, LCSW, along with Katherine Mitchell of Chaplaincy and nurse practitioners Colleen Smith and Leslie Griffin.
“I can’t put myself in their shoes because I haven’t been through it, but I can connect them with others who have,” said Morrissey. “People encourage each other. You often hear someone say, ‘I got through it, and so will you.’”
The VAD support group for patients and their families is just one of the ways that Morrissey and her colleague Patti Lin, MSW, LICSW, provide support to cardiovascular patients and their families at BWH.
“I believe the role of the social worker is to work within the multidisciplinary team to promote understanding of the social and emotional effects of illness on patients and families. Social workers offer support regarding adjustment to illness, coping techniques, education, access to resources in the community and helping patients and families find the most effective strategies to help themselves during and following diagnosis,” said Morrissey.
When the Shapiro Center opens, Morrissey and Lin are optimistic that Social Work will be able to provide even more services to patients and families.
“We’re hoping to offer more family-centered programs when the Shapiro Center opens,” Morrissey said. “We want to make sure we’re there to best support families, whether it’s through groups or other resources.”
In honor of National Social Work Recognition Month in March, BWH social workers displayed posters of their work in the main lobby at 75 Francis St. Phyllis W. King, LICSW, DCSW, president of the Massachusetts chapter of the National Social Workers Association, stopped by BWH to view the posters and meet with BWH social workers.