The social service is the point of contact for all patients and relatives in social, family and occupational matters, both during the current treatment period and when planning post-inpatient support.

The underlying consideration is that social factors can be a contributing cause when people can no longer cope in daily life or fall ill. Social work provides advice on all social and social-law questions related to the hospital stay, its causes and consequences; patients are informed about their social rights and supported in dealing with the formalities. It is important to involve our patients' relatives, as they are often the only close contacts and directly feel the effects of the mental illness.

Activities of the social service

The focus of our work in the social service is individual counselling sessions for jointly identifying and coping with problems, or crisis intervention. We provide support in the prevention, management and solution of social problems, as well as motivational work.

Collaboration in the multiprofessional team

• participation in ward rounds, team meetings, supervisions and case conferences
• participation in and delivery of further-training measures
• mentoring for university interns

Coordination and organisation of support services

• referral to psychosocial institutions (for example: social psychiatric service, day centres, supported housing)
• planning occupational reintegration
• developing occupational perspectives
• referral to disorder-specific rehabilitation measures such as follow-up treatments, withdrawal treatments etc.
• contacting and talking with relatives, legal guardians and other contacts
• organising care-plan conferences in preparation for outpatient aftercare within the framework of integration assistance

Advice on social-law questions

• distribution of material resources, including applying for and organising benefits (for example: applications for a pension, unemployment benefit, ALG II, social assistance, housing benefit, severe-disability status, long-term care insurance benefits)

Organisation and delivery of various group services

• social skills training
• cognitive training
• sociotherapeutic groups
• organising leisure activities
• gerontopsychiatric afternoons
• leading the existing self-help groups with different conditions and target groups
• patient club
• Psychosis Seminar
• Relatives' groups

Outreach activities

• home visits
• accompaniment to authorities, employers, counselling centres and other psychosocial institutions

Administrative activities

• participation in field-related committees
  • for example in various committees of the Psychosocial Working Group, the cooperation conference, the Association for Social Services in Hospitals, and the board of the German Society for Social Psychiatry

Public relations

• organisation and delivery of the patients' summer party
• leading and delivering the Psychosis Seminar
• co-organising and delivering the annual Day of Mental Disability in Magdeburg

Contacts

Antje Klein
Graduate social pedagogue

Tel:      0391-67-13490
Fax:     0391-67-13373
antje.klein@med.ovgu.de

Clinic for Psychiatry, Ward 1

Silke Hoffmann
Graduate social pedagogue

Tel:      0391-67-14254
Fax:     0391-67-21054
silke.hoffmann@med.ovgu.de

Clinic for Psychiatry, Ward 2

Alvara Neumann

Social pedagogue

Tel:      0391-67-21052
Fax:     0391-67-13373
Alvara.Neumann@med.ovgu.de

Clinic for Psychiatry, Ward 3

Frances Höfflin
Graduate social pedagogue

Tel:      0391-67-14199
Fax:     0391-67-13373
frances.hoefflin@med.ovgu.de

Clinic for Psychiatry, Ward 4