Nowadays, more and more people are affected by the consequences of modern-day lifestyles that have a great impact on their health conditions. The amount of people diagnosed with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) is constantly growing. This creates a special need for incompetent and well-trained social workers who may offer their qualified help to people with CVD and ESRD and their families. In the following paper, the main peculiarities of renal social work and cardiac care social work will be addressed. In addition, the two types of social work will be subjected to a compare and contrast analysis. Overall, renal social work and cardiac social work have the two major similarities of requiring a high level of proficiency and being a person with great inner qualities; however, as patients with ESRD are more subjected to the risks of depression and suicide, and encounter a more complicated emotional strain, renal social workers have more urgent concerns in their work than cardiac care social workers.
Evaluating the two types of social work under consideration, it should be stated that they have a lot in common. The basis for success in both of these fields of social work is a high level of proficiency and great inner qualities of a social worker. To work successfully with the patients affected by such serious diseases as CVD and ESRD, a social worker should be a person with a kind heart full of compassion and positivity. It is important for a social worker not only to assist the person under care technically, but also to help him or her psychologically as it is well-known that the condition of any patient may be much better in case he or she is approached with due care, respect, and positive determination. The atmosphere of compassion and positivity created by a social worker may result in significant improvement of the patient’s condition, and this is especially so in the case of patients with CVD.
There are also a number of differences between renal social work and cardiac care social work. In particular, a social worker caring for a patient with ERDS faces more complicated issues that need urgent reaction when compared to a cardiac care social worker. A social worker who has an ESRD patient should remember about all the pains and disappointments that the person under care has to go through. As the patient with ESRD is subjected to drastic changes in one’s lifestyle that includes changing life goals, loosing many opportunities in life, limiting vocational and recreational choices, changing interpersonal and family roles, he or she
goes through a series of serious commotions that most often result into having a serious moral trauma (Beder, 2006) This trauma leaves its deep scarce in the person’s soul. A social worker who assists a patient with ESRD should put a lot of efforts into helping the patient cope with one’s stress and emotional strain. Among the most common anticipated feelings that the patient must suffer are fear, anger, hurt, depression, shame, feeling trapped while living with such a serious and limiting in opportunities disease, and guilt of being a burden for the surrounding people (Beder, 2006). One of the special concerns for a social worker who assists a patient with ESRD is depression because this kind of depression may often be lethal. Thus, in case a social worker identifies the symptoms of a depression that one’s patient may have, he or she should implement urgent measures to stop it. In most cases, serious medicament treatment of depression is required. Besides, such patients are subjected to a greater suicide danger because they have a better access to suicidal opportunities due to their dependence on the procedure of dialysis. Therefore, a special concern for a renal social worker should be implementing all the possible measures that help avoiding suicide. In addition, the family members of a patent with ESRD often need assistance from a social worker. Their stress due to their life changes is abundant that requires professional help. In addition, they need special training from a social worker to acquire new skills that will help them assist their ill family member in sticking to new lifestyle including the diet. Compared to renal social work, cardiac care social work is connected to fewer complicated situations. This is explained by the fact that patients with CVD have good chances to recover, and thus, they are less subjected to a risk of lethal depression. In addition, although their lifestyles also undergo significant changes, these changes are not so considerable; thus, their stress is less intensive, which means that a social worker is to put fewer efforts into coping with complications connected with stress when they work with CVD patients. One more important difference, that cardiac care workers should be mindful of, is the fact that women need more intensive help when they are affected by CVD. Women recover slower, and experience more stress during the recovery process. Therefore, when a social worker assists a female patient, one should pay her a special attention. There is no such gender difference in renal care social work. The other important point which distinguishes cardiac care social worker from a renal care social worker is the fact that for CVD patients and their families, the motivate role of a social worker is especially important. CVD is a sort of an illness which is much better cured in a loving and positive atmosphere. A social worker should do one’s best to create this sort of atmosphere for one’s mentee.
As a final point, the evaluation of facts shows that there are a lot of similarities between renal social work and cardiac care social work. In particular, both types of social work require a high level qualification and outstanding inner qualities from a social worker as both ESRD and CVD are complicated conditions. However, the differences between the two types of social work are also considerable because ESRD patients face a more complicated emotional strain that may result into severe depression or suicide. Thus, a renal social worker should be especially cautious in one’s work. In addition, the family members of a patient with ESRD face more changes in their lifestyles than the family members of patients with CVD that causes serious psychological problems; thus, they also need a qualified help of a social worker.
Reference
Beder, J. (2006). Hospital social work: The interface of medicine and caring (1st ed.). New York: Routledge.