Social workers offer people with rheumatic disease a broad range of services, such as emotional support, referrals for community resources, counseling for individuals, couples, or families, and the development of patient-specific resources within the community to assist patients in meeting their own needs.

What Does the Social Worker Do?
To help evaluate the person's strengths, resources, and support systems, a social worker will administer a psychosocial assessment, which includes questions relating to the person's education level, employment, financial situation, family support, living arrangement, hobbies, and previous coping situations.

Counseling interventions are designed to maximize personal and social resources in dealing with short and long-term issues of managing a chronic disease like spondylitis. Patients may also benefit from the social worker's knowledge of community resources to help them meet specifid needs (example: financial assistance for elderly spondylitis patients).

Where Does a Social Worker Work?
Social workers provide care in a variety of settings, including hospitals, outpatient clinics, rehabilitation centers, community mental health clinics, family and community service agencies, home care departments, schools, and private practice settings.

Training
They may have a bachelor's, master's, or doctoral degree, and most states require licensure for social work practice. National credential programs for advanced practice include the academy of Certified Social Workers and Diplomat in Social Work.

Source: American College of Rheumatology