March 10, 2006
Social workers provide compassion, counsel to patients and family
AML patient Janna Paster (R) has received tremendous support from social worker Mary Lou Hackett (L).
Janna Paster was a 28-year-old schoolteacher and a bride of just seven weeks when she left her house in Foxboro the morning of Jan. 21, 2005. Unbeknownst to her, she wouldn't be returning for more than two months - after extensive treatment at Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center (DF/BWCC) for acute myeloid leukemia (AML).
Now, with a cord blood transplant, chemotherapy/radiation, and other challenges behind her, Paster remains uncertain about her future. She is, however, sure of one thing: she and her family could "never, ever have made it through this last year" without the help of her DF/BWCC social worker, Mary Lou Hackett, LICSW.
"She's been such an incredible, knowledgeable support system for us," says Paster, who is regularly accompanied on outpatient visits by her husband, Mark, and mother-in-law, Nancy - both of whom have also benefited from Hackett's counsel. "If something is bothering us physically, emotionally, or in any other way, we can see or call Mary Lou. If she doesn't have the answer, she'll be a sympathetic ear and tell us where to get it."
Hackett is one of a core team of clinical social workers on staff within the DF/BWCC's Care Coordination Department available to adult patients with cancer and related diseases, along with their families. Each has master's degree-level preparation, including classroom and on-site, supervised field training. Their pediatric counterparts, one of whom is assigned to each young oncology patient and family seen in the Jimmy Fund Clinic and at Children's Hospital Boston, operate out of the clinic's Pediatric Psychosocial Unit.
During this - National Professional Social Work Month - and every day of the year, these caregivers provide psychosocial assessments and intervention and serve as sounding boards for patients and their families throughout treatment and beyond.
"Social workers offer a commitment to the whole patient within the Dana-Farber/Brigham and Women's Cancer Center environment," explains Michael Hubner, LICSW, program manager for Care Coordination and director of adult social work at Dana-Farber. "As a profession, social work is not only concerned with the wellbeing of individuals and their families, but also with the economic and social forces that affect our patients' lives, such as changes in health-care policy, health insurance coverage, access to care, and any cultural or societal barriers to receiving help."
Grace and expertise
Assigned to disease-based teams, social workers can serve as a key team member, along with physician, nurses, and other caregivers. Hackett, for instance, sees Paster and other adult leukemia patients under the care of Richard Stone, MD, of Medical Oncology, who says Mary Lou and her colleagues "provide a critical service" by addressing the emotional needs of patients and families while physicians focus on the actual medical plan.
"Taking care of an oncology patient is truly a team approach, and the social worker deals with some of the toughest issues - loss of 'normal' life, loss of work and income, and, of course, fear of dying," says Stone. "Our social workers handle this challenge with grace, compassion, and expertise. We simply couldn't do our jobs without them."
Stone says Hackett has been with the Pasters "through every turn," a sentiment shared by the family. "You can't think of everything when you're meeting with the doctors," says Janna's husband, Mark. "I've come to look at Mary Lou as someone we can call to help us deal with things as they pop up."
Nancy Paster, Mark's mother, remembers a late night last September when they had to rush Janna to the hospital with complications, and Nancy left messages on Hackett's voicemail machine at 11 p.m., 2 a.m., and 5 a.m. detailing each stage of the frightening event. "I even felt better talking to Mary Lou's voicemail," says Nancy with a smile, to which Hackett replies, "As I always tell people, you are the patient, but your whole family is our patient."
For Janna herself, this approach - and relationship - has given her peace of mind. "Mary Lou has taken care of me, of course, but she's also been able to help the family in a way that I couldn't," Paster says. "I knew how upset Mark was when it looked like I might not make it, but there was nothing I could do. He and I could only talk about it so much, but Mary Lou always took the time to make sure Mark was OK. Her caring for him has made my recovery easier."
