Your Care Givers

The Radiation Oncology Department has a social worker available to provide various non-medical
services to out-patients and their families. Arrangements to meet with the Social Services can be made
through the nursing staff in Radiation Oncology. The following are examples of some of the issues that
patients and families can discuss with the social worker.

1. Financial hardships such as no insurance, inadequate resources for prescriptions, medical bills,
   and immediate health care needs.
2. Need or short-term disability, long-term disability programs such as Social Security Disability,
   and SSI, and/or local entitlement programs.
3. Need for coordination of, and/or referral to, community resources such as home care
   including nursing and home health aide service, home medical supplies, county public health
   nurses, Visiting Nurse Association, transportation, legal aide services, nursing homes,
   Hospice, and/or organizations such as the American Cancer Society and the Leukemia Society
   of America.
4. Need for temporary lodging during treatment period.
5. Need for coordination of services for out-of-town or out-of-state treatments.
6. Emotional stress in adjusting to illness, disability, and other social situations.
7. Need for referral for counseling services, including support groups, stress reduction,
   relaxation, and guided imagery.
8. Living Wills, Power of Attorney, and/or the New York State Health Care Proxy.