Psychiatry, Social Service and Spiritual Support

• Psychologists offer psychology education to the family to deal with their children during the treatment journey, routine psychological screening for all the patients, therapeutic management of psychiatric morbidity through individual and group sessions and different kinds of psychotherapy. A daily clinic service for outpatients from 8:00 am till 16:00 pm offering psychometric assessments and psychotherapy. Also as a part of the hospice care team, they offer home visits to children.


• Psychiatrists who offer a daily clinic from 8:00 am to 16:00 pm to manage different mental disorders occurring during or after the treatment journey as well as in need inpatient cases for psychiatric consultation.

Where do we find the social workers team inside the Hospital?

Social workers are spread all across the Hospital’s various departments, and wherever patients are located. They are found in the outpatient's clinics, the in-patient sections, the surgery and bone marrow transplantation units, intensive care unit, emergency department, day care, recovery clinic, palliative care unit, children’s playrooms, children’s libraries and the waiting areas.

Social workers department offers its services 365 days a year and their daily working hours are from 8 am to 9 pm. At hospital 57357, the worth and effectiveness of the social worker’s performance is dependent on the extent of his presence and interaction with patients.

Scope of Services

• Help the patient and his family to get past the shock of the positive diagnosis and to control their emotions and negative feelingsc
• Evaluating the social needs that must be satisfied for the patient and family throughout all treatment stages.
• Explaining to the patient and his family their rights and responsibilities towards the Hospital.
• Carrying out a case study for each patient in order form a clear picture of the environment in which the patient lives.
• Providing psychological and social support for the patient throughout his stay in the Hospital.
• Taking care of patients whose medical care has ended.
• To follow up on patients who miss on their treatment appointments because of social reasons, identifying the reasons and working on overcoming them.
• Orientation sessions for the families regarding any behavioral changes that could be manifested by the patient during treatment.
• Providing financial support for eligible cases through local community associations.

Home Visits

Home visits are very important and have priority for the social service department, where a work team provides services to children in their natural environment. The team also works on improving their living conditions.

If some side effects appeared after the child recovers, which may be the appearance of a problem with hearing or speech, the team provides integrated psychological support to deal with the psychological, social or physical effects of these side effects. A cancer patient may be cured, but after a leg amputation for example, he would require psychological and physical rehabilitation. We direct him to the institutions that would qualify him to cope with the new conditions. Therefore, the role of the social worker often remains with the patient even after complete recovery, in addition to the fact that the treatment of a child with cancer continues for many years, which requires the intervention of the social worker, so that the patient would be able to resume his normal life.

Trips and Celebrations

The Hospital’s social service team use trips as an educational tool to recognize the patient’s emotional and social condition, in a carefree environment away from the social and psychological pressures that he may feel during the different stages of treatment, and modify the behavior if necessary. It is also a means to strengthen social relations between patients and families. Hence, the Hospital was keen to launch the Marsa Matrouh summer trip for patients’ families, in cooperation with Ramses Hilton, which had a great impact in lifting up the children’s spirits.

The hospital is also keen to hold celebrations (such as entertainment, birthdays and events celebrations) to contribute to delighting patients and families, as they feel supported.

Overview

Within the framework of hospital 57357’s provision of quality comprehensive care to its patients, it was inevitable to include a spiritual dimension to this care. As such, a special unit composed of tolerant and understanding men of both religions Christianity and Islam collaborate closely with the psychiatry unit to provide spiritual support to the patients, their families, and all those dealing with them within or outside the 57357 premises. We enable the child who desires to perform his or her worshiping rituals to do so in his room or in the Hospital’s little mosque or church. Also, we make sure to address any worries or concerns he might have during his treatment journey.

Scope of Services

Providing group spiritual support sessions during which we discuss any of the patients’ thoughts or concerns that vary according to the treatment phase they are going through.

Providing private support sessions to consolidate the outcome of the group sessions.

Providing story-telling workshops to create an environment which promotes ethics and values, supporting their spiritual strength and instilling hope in cure and in a brighter future.

Organizing each Ramadan a Quran reciting competition.