Health Care Social Workers
On the Job
Health Care Social Workers help people who are suffering from a serious or terminal illness. They advise family caregivers and help to educate patients and families. They may also provide services to help prevent disease.
Typical Work Tasks
People who work in this career often:
- Collect information about clients.
- Conduct research on social issues.
- Interview clients to gather information about their backgrounds, needs, or progress.
- Investigate legal issues.
- Refer clients to community or social service programs.
- Refer individuals to educational or work programs.
- Collaborate with other professionals to assess client needs or plan treatments.
- Complete documentation required by programs or regulations.
- Maintain client records.
- Develop treatment plans for patients or clients.
Typical Working Conditions
- Having face-to-face discussions.
- Working with a group or team.
- Exposure to disease or infections.
- Working indoors in environmentally controlled conditions.
- The freedom to determine tasks, priorities, and goals.
- Freedom to make decisions without supervision.
- Meeting strict deadlines.
- Being in situations in which conflicts arise.
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people.
- Sitting.
This page includes information from the O*NET 24.2 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.
Source: You can learn about our data sources in the About Us section.
