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medical social worker

medical social worker

1 3.3
A person who helps hospital patients with emotional, family, and practical needs
  • noun
  • /ˈmɛdɪkəl ˈsoʊʃəl ˈwɜrkər/
translation icon : trabajador social médico
  • Medical social workers should communicate confidence in discussing pain-related issues and encourage patients to place pain on the agenda during sessions.
  • the role of a medical social worker

Examples

  • These VA employees carried the designation of psychiatric or medical social workers and assisted veterans in receiving treatment and restorative services necessary to support their return to community living.

    Academic text (2006)
  • I worked for six years as a medical social worker with sufferers of chronic pain and have lived with chronic pain for 14 years.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Medical social workers should be aware of these approaches that may fit better with minority patients' habits or cultural norms than do Western ones.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Medical social workers and community specialists must be especially attuned to work-related injuries and high-risk behaviors in a younger community.

    Academic text (2008)
  • The projected rises in the prevalence of heart disease and comorbid mental health symptoms in the aging U.S. population suggest that medical social workers and mental health professionals will play an increasingly critical role in cardiac care.

    Academic text (2010)
  • Medical social workers must educate their teams about institutionalized oppression and barriers to care, as well as cultural value conflicts that may negatively influence clinical practice.

    Academic text (2007)
  • As a medical social worker, I assist patients in managing their emotional and social challenges during hospital stays.

  • The medical social worker helped the family understand the treatment options available for their loved one.

  • During her internship, she learned how a medical social worker provides crucial support for patients facing difficult diagnoses.

Synonyms

social worker
vsmedical social worker
137 3.1

A person who helps people in need by giving advice and support

is focused on patients in healthcare rather than general social disadvantage
caseworker
vsmedical social worker
27 3.9

A person who helps people or families get help from social services

is patient centred in medical settings rather than general case management
welfare worker
vsmedical social worker
2 3.5

A person who helps poor or vulnerable people get support from social services

is based in healthcare and helps patients with social and emotional needs
almoner
vsmedical social worker
  • Archaic
1 9.9

A hospital worker who gives patients money and arranges other support

is based in healthcare and supports patients socially, emotionally, and materially

Antonyms

100 3.5

Not caring for someone or something that needs care

How Senior

medical social worker
1 3.3
social worker
137 3.1

Surface Forms

Morphology

medical + social + worker

The meaning is directly derivable from the parts: 'worker' names the person, 'social' signals social-service work, and 'medical' restricts the domain to healthcare settings, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents can infer a social worker who works in medical contexts. This adjective–noun compositional pattern is common cross-linguistically and follows standard English modification, making the phrase immediately comprehensible.

Etymology

The term medical social worker brings together medical (hospital health), social (help with family and daily life) and worker (a person who does practical jobs). Imagine a helper at a hospital bedside who arranges housing, speaks with the family and finds community help, so the name means 'to support patients' with their social, emotional and practical needs.