Healthcare Social Workers
Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising family caregivers. Provide patients with information and counseling, and make referrals for other services. May also provide case and care management or interventions designed to promote health, prevent disease, and address barriers to access to healthcare.
This is a specialization of
Social Services ProfessionalsCareer Overview Video
AI Impact Assessment
AI Resilience Score
Score 5/6: growing job demand, strong human advantage provides strong protection from AI displacement
How we calculated this:
34% of tasks can be accelerated by AI
+8% projected (2024-2034)
EPOCH score: 23/25
Key Responsibilities
- Advocate for clients or patients to resolve crises.
- Educate clients about end-of-life symptoms and options to assist them in making informed decisions.
- Collaborate with other professionals to evaluate patients' medical or physical condition and to assess client needs.
- Refer patient, client, or family to community resources to assist in recovery from mental or physical illness and to provide access to services such as financial assistance, legal aid, housing, job placement or education.
- Utilize consultation data and social work experience to plan and coordinate client or patient care and rehabilitation, following through to ensure service efficacy.
- Monitor, evaluate, and record client progress according to measurable goals described in treatment and care plan.
- Identify environmental impediments to client or patient progress through interviews and review of patient records.
- Counsel clients and patients in individual and group sessions to help them overcome dependencies, recover from illness, and adjust to life.
- Plan discharge from care facility to home or other care facility.
- Organize support groups or counsel family members to assist them in understanding, dealing with, and supporting the client or patient.
Education & Training
Typical Entry Education
Master's degree
Time to Job Ready
6-12 years
Based on Job Zone 5. For formal education duration only, see education_duration.
Technology Skills
Key Abilities
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Find jobs and training programs for healthcare social workers- Median salary: $63K/year
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Compensation Details
Based on 185,020 employed workers
Also Known As
Data from O*NET 30.1 and BLS Occupational Employment Statistics
O*NET Code: 21-1022.00