World Social Work Day is on 19th of March and the whole month is dedicated to raising awareness about the importance of social work in various fields of social and humanitarian activities. Social workers are very important members of multidisciplinary teams in hospice care. On this opportunity, we want to attract attention to the importance of the profession of social work in palliative care and to present our social workers Mijodrag Bogićević and Katarina Sivčević.
Social workers in palliative care are important because their expertise and skills help patients and people in their immediate surroundings deal with different situations that cause severe or incurable illness, which includes various losses and grief, as well as the quality of life and „good death“.
Social workers work in partnership with users of their services, but also build partnerships with institutions and other organizations, services and community in which they operate.
Mijodrag Bogićević, the first social worker in the field of palliative care in Serbia, states that the European Association for Palliative Care defines social work as a profession „aimed at working with individuals, their families and caregivers, as well as assessing their connection with the community in which they live.
In addition to respecting different cultures and traditions and insisting on the availability of social life, social workers work to promote human rights, such as the right to care, with the option of choosing and safeguarding dignity. Social workers are often, among other things, the voice of the poor and marginalized in society. “
Mijodrag joined the BELhospice team in 2012 and with his engagement we contributed to the higher quality of life of our patients and their family members through new and innovative services.
Program for the provision of psycho-social services to cancer patients in the advanced stages of illness and members of their families, a program for support in the process of grief, various workshops, cooperation with social care institutions, the first voluntary service in the field of palliative care in Serbia which we are very proud of.
Mijodrag is involved, as a lecturer, in the education organized by BELhospice Centre, and is engaged in cooperation with international organizations in the field of palliative care.
At the time when she was a social work student, Katarina Sivčević joined the BELhospice team as a volunteer and fulfilled last months of life of our patients with joy.
Since 2016, Katarina has been professionally engaged in the BELhospice Centre, first as a volunteer coordinator, and then as a social worker. With her knowledge, initiatives and dedicated work, she contributes to the further development of volunteer services and psychosocial support programs.
As a mentor, she now transmits her experience to the third generation of social work students who perform their internship at the BELhospice Centre.
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