Back in March, you may have seen that it was Social Work Week (18th-22nd March).
A growing area of work for our Social Work team is the cost of living crisis. Louise Boulter described to us how the team help patients and their families deal with the pressures they are facing.
“When people are very ill, they can’t work and often the whole family can be thrown into financial hardship. Many people don’t know what benefits they are entitled to so, whilst we’re not experts, we can sign post them to the forms they need to fill out which help them access support. It can be exhausting for patients having to tell authorities about their diagnosis over and over, so we can point people to what they need to do to bypass some of the bureaucracy.
“Our patients are facing a lot of extra costs as a result of their illness. Fuel bills are really hitting people hard. Some patients are on oxygen or have hospital beds with specialised mattresses which use a lot of electricity. Many have breathing conditions which worsen when they are heating just one room in their house. Travel costs are another big area of expense, travelling to lots of appointments. Or many have no car and rely on taxis. When you’re facing a family crisis like a terminal diagnosis, many people just spend the money and deal with the problem later, which can add to debts.
“Poverty has a huge impact on health and no one ever wants to admit they are struggling. As a team, we used to support people on benefits and lower incomes, but now it’s very often people earning middle incomes as the cost of living crisis continues. People often say: ‘We didn’t realise we could ask you about this.’ We offer advice, support, signpost people to debt relief and encourage people to seek legal advice. We can also find small grants to help them with some expenses, although these are getting more and more difficult to access as there is so much demand.
“Funeral poverty is another huge issue which is increasingly common and causes considerable psychological distress. People who have just lost someone they are close to are extremely vulnerable and may feel pressured to agree to a more lavish funeral than they can afford. Families tell us that they are at risk of loan sharks go door to door, offering to lend money for funerals. We’d like to encouraged patients and families to discuss these worries and concerns with the Team early to try to prevent additional distress.
“Patients and families need us to advocate for them, and we spend a lot of time contacting other organisations on a patient’s behalf. We hear quite a lot of difficult stories from our patients and families – that their tenancy is in their name and once they die their kids will be homeless. Or that they discover huge amounts of debt just as their partner reaches end of life. It’s a very difficult time but these additional stresses can make it feel just unmanageable. We try our hardest to help.”
