Job Purpose
To provide professional social work and psychosocial support services to patients and their families by identifying and addressing social, economic, family, and environmental factors affecting health, treatment adherence, rehabilitation, and recovery. The position facilitates patient advocacy, social protection, family engagement, discharge planning, and community reintegration in collaboration with multidisciplinary healthcare teams and relevant stakeholders.
Key Duties and Responsibilities
- Conduct comprehensive social assessments to identify patients' social, economic, family, psychological, and environmental circumstances affecting their health and recovery.
- Identify patients experiencing social vulnerability, neglect, abuse, discrimination, family conflict, homelessness, poverty, or other psychosocial challenges.
- Develop individualized social intervention plans based on patients' identified needs and circumstances.
- Provide psychosocial support and counselling to patients and their families within the scope of professional competence.
- Advocate for patients' rights, dignity, access to healthcare, social protection, and other essential support services.
- Facilitate communication and engagement between patients, families, healthcare professionals, and relevant social support institutions.
- Trace and engage patients' families or legal representatives where necessary to facilitate treatment, care planning, and discharge arrangements.
- Support patients whose families are unavailable, unwilling, or unable to provide appropriate care and recommend suitable interventions.
- Participate in multidisciplinary clinical meetings and contribute social assessments and recommendations to patient management plans.
- Facilitate appropriate discharge planning by assessing patients' social circumstances, living conditions, family support, and capacity for continued care.
- Coordinate referrals to relevant government institutions, social protection programmes, community organizations, and other support services.
- Support the reintegration of patients into their families and communities following treatment and rehabilitation.
- Conduct follow-up assessments to monitor patients' social circumstances, treatment continuity, and reintegration outcomes.
- Identify and report cases of abuse, neglect, exploitation, discrimination, and other violations of patient rights in accordance with institutional procedures and applicable laws.
- Facilitate access to available social assistance, financial support, rehabilitation services, and community-based care programmes.
- Provide guidance to families and caregivers on patient care, recovery, rehabilitation, and social support.
- Participate in the development and implementation of psychosocial rehabilitation and community reintegration programmes.
- Support the management of patients with chronic mental health conditions and those requiring long-term social and community support.
- Coordinate with local authorities, community health workers, social protection institutions, and relevant partners to facilitate continuity of care.
- Maintain accurate, confidential, and up-to-date social work records, assessment reports, case management plans, referrals, and follow-up documentation.
- Participate in the development, review, and implementation of policies, guidelines, and procedures relating to social work and psychosocial support services.
- Promote awareness of patients' social rights, mental health, stigma reduction, and community acceptance.
- Participate in social research, community assessments, and institutional initiatives aimed at improving psychosocial care and patient outcomes.
- Support the identification and mobilization of community resources and partnerships to address patients' social and rehabilitation needs.
- Participate in institutional quality improvement initiatives, clinical audits, and patient safety activities relating to psychosocial care.
- Ensure adherence to professional ethics, confidentiality, informed consent, and safeguarding principles when handling patient and family information.
- Prepare periodic reports on social work activities, patient cases, interventions, referrals, follow-up, and service delivery challenges.
- Perform any other related duties assigned by the immediate supervisor.
Expected Outputs / Deliverables
- Completed patient social assessment reports.
- Individualized social intervention and case management plans.
- Documented psychosocial support and counselling activities.
- Family tracing and engagement records.
- Patient referral and discharge planning documentation.
- Patient follow-up and community reintegration reports.
- Documented linkages with social protection and community support services.
- Periodic social work service delivery reports.
- Contributions to multidisciplinary patient management and rehabilitation.
Qualifications
Bachelor’s Degree in Sociology
0 Year of relevant experience
Bachelor's Degree in Social Work
0 Year of relevant experience
Bachelor's Degree in Social Studies
0 Year of relevant experience
Required competencies and key technical skills
Fluency in Kinyarwanda, English and/or French. Knowledge of all is an added advantage.
Problem solving skills
Mentoring and coaching skills
Time management skills
Results oriented
Digital literacy skills
Knowledge of clinical services Policy and procedure
Knowledge of Rwanda Health System
Excellent Communication, Organizational, and Interpersonal Skills
ADVOCACY for individual client skills
Knowledge and understanding of human relationship
Social orientation skills
Engaging and communication withdiverse population and group of all size skills
Integrity skills
Creativity and initiative skills
Analytical and problem-solving skills.