The Social Services at MSP - Yamoussoukro

Today, I am presenting you the social services at our Psychiatric Hospital. Mr Rene, the social assistant, is our person of interest here, and he is the only staff member with a small office. Fortunately, he doesn’t complain about it. He knows, as well as all other staff members, that his office is not limited at the hospital. It is in the society, the villages surrounding the hospital, even out of the country's boarders. In the fact, he is the staff member with a big office! As he explains it, his job starts when the patient enters the hospital the first day. While the nurse follows the patient while in the hospital, Mr Rene goes beyond the hospitalization period and follows the patient even at home. Everyone knows him because he knows everyone.

At MSP, 95% of all hospitalized patients have social issues that necessitate a special attention toward their successful recovery. Most of the time, these patients come from broken families, poor families with no financial means to support the recovery process, or have problems related to employment and relationships. As a patient comes at the hospital, he is received first by the welcoming team which takes the preliminary information and prepares him for consultation. The social assistant works in concordance with the welcoming team to get the first glance of information needed to conduct his activities. After consultation with the psychiatrist, the patient is sent to the nursing team who takes over with different therapies or prepares him for hospitalization. It is when the patient is to be hospitalized that the social assistant starts his intense inquiries with the family and the patient. It is always crucial that the social assistant gets most of the information on the first day when the family members are present. In cases when no family member is available, as it happens sometimes, the social assistant relies on the information provided by the patient and other interviews done where the patient was found (in the city, market…). In the long run, most of patients provide reliable information that helps the social assistant to track their families and relatives. In other instances, after the first day, some families disappear from all contacts with the hospital. It is the role of the social assistant to do follow up in search for these families to remind them of their responsibilities.

It is always important to work with families throughout the period of hospitalization and to involve them in the therapies as much as possible so that the process continues even after the hospital. The analysis at MSP has shown that most of patients who get re-hospitalized are due to the failure of the family involvement in the after-care.

Every day, the social assistant is the last person to leave the hospital. Given the amount of responsibilities he has, he plays a crucial role in the recovery and rehabilitation of our patients. One thing he is proud of telling when you talk to him is the stories of his traveling when he goes to visit families of our patients even in places where there is no transport. How he goes there? It is his secret.
To get more of other services, don't miss our next article!

By Jean-Clement, RN, BSN