1. Empathy

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The ability to identify with and understand another person’s experience and point of view. "The act of perceiving, understanding, experiencing and responding to the emotional state and ideas of another person." Stepping into someone else’s shoes and recognizing that experiences, perceptions, and worldviews are unique to each individual. This enables social service worker students to better understand and build stronger relationships with clients. It is a vital skill that helps social service workers to determine a client’s needs based on his or her unique experiences in order to efficiently provide services.

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2. Communication

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Communication – both verbal and non-verbal – is a vital skill for social service workers and is greatly improved at Elder Help Peel. The ability to communicate clearly with a wide range of people is essential. It is the duty of social workers to advocate for their clients – in order to do this, social service workers must understand the client’s needs. In addition to being cognizant of body language and other non-verbal cues, this means communicating appropriately and effectively with clients regardless of cultural background, age, gender, literacy skill level, or disability. Social service workers at Elder Help Peel must also communicate with care providers, colleagues, and agencies, and must document and report information in a clear manner.

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3. Organization

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Social service workers have busy schedules and a wide range of responsibilities in addition to managing and supporting multiple clients, including documentation, reporting, and collaboration. This requires social service worker practicum students to be very organized and able to prioritize clients’ needs in order to effectively manage cases. Disorganization and poor time management could cause a social service worker to overlook a client’s needs and result in negative outcomes, however meeting with Elder Help Peel's daily tasks and responsibilities makes such outcomes not likely.

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4. Critical Thinking

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Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information gathered from unbiased observation and communication. Social service worker practicum students at Eler Help Peel must be able to objectively evaluate each case by collecting information through observation, interviews, and research. Thinking critically and without prejudice enables us to make informed decisions, identify the best resources and formulate the best plan to help clients.

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5. Active Listening

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Active listening is necessary for social service workers to understand and identify a client’s needs. Listening carefully, concentrating, asking the right questions, and utilizing techniques such as paraphrasing and summarizing also helps social workers to engage and establish trust with clients and is a daily practice at Elder Help Peel.

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6. Self-Care

 

Social service work can be demanding and emotionally stressful, so it is important to engage in activities that help you to maintain a healthy work-life balance. Self-care refers to practices that help to reduce stress and improve health and well-being – engaging in these practices helps to prevent burnout and compassion fatigue and is crucial to having a sustainable career. By taking the time to care for themselves, social service workers are better able to provide the best services for their clients. Self-care is essential to be successful at Elder Help Peel.

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7. Cultural Competence

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Working effectively with clients from diverse backgrounds requires social workers to be respectful and responsive to cultural beliefs and practices. Social service worker practicum students at Elder Help Peel must be knowledgeable and respectful of their clients’ cultural backgrounds and must examine their own cultural backgrounds and identities while seeking out the necessary knowledge, skills, and values that can enhance the delivery of services to people with varying cultural experiences associated with their race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexual orientation, religion, age or disability. Possessing a non-judgmental attitude and an appreciation for diversity and the value of individual differences enables us to provide clients with what they need.

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8. Patience

 

Social service workers encounter an array of circumstances and individuals in their work. It is important to have the patience to work through complex cases and with clients who need longer periods of time to make progress. This empowers social service workers to understand the client’s situation and avoid hasty decision-making and frustration that can lead to costly errors and poor outcomes for the client. Patience is practiced at all levels as a practicum student at Elder Help Peel.

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9. Professional Commitment

 

Being successful in social work requires lifelong learning. Social service workers must have a professional commitment to social work values and ethics, and to continue developing professional competence. This commitment is necessary for fulfilling the mission of social service workers at Elder Help Peel – to enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people, with particular attention to the needs and empowerment of people who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living as seniors in isolation and loneliness.

 

 

10. Advocacy

 

Social service worker practicum students at Elder Help Peel promote social justice and empower clients and communities through advocacy. Advocacy skills enable us to represent and argue for our clients and to connect them with needed resources and opportunities, especially when clients are vulnerable or unable to advocate for themselves.