Vol. 48, No. 7, July 2003

NASW Teams With Advocacy Group to Boost Services

Work With Amputees Requires Varied Skills

An organization works to supply information to health care provider groups.

By Lyn Stoesen, News Staff

Illustration: John Michael Yanson

At a meeting last September between NASW and representatives from the Amputee Coalition of America (ACA), the organizations began to forge a collaboration to improve services to amputees.

“One of the difficulties we have is getting people the information they need when they need it,” said Paddy Rossbach, ACA president. The organization has been working to establish relationships with a number of health care provider groups, including physical therapists, nurses and social workers.

Rossbach said ACA has developed an initiative to provide a package of information for everyone going into the hospital facing amputation, and making contact with these health care provider groups is an important part of ACA’s strategy to implement the program.

Varied practice. Social work with amputees is much like social work with any other group of people — there are many factors that make each client’s situation unique, and it is a practice with a broad range of responsibilities.

Social workers should be aware that “much of the time a person is working with this population isn’t necessarily working intensely in the therapy piece,” said Omal Bani Saberi, a social worker who works with amputees.

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From July 2003 NASW News. Copyright © 2003, National Association of Social Workers, Inc. NASW News articles may be copied for personal use, but proper notice of copyright and credit to the NASW News must appear on all copies made. This permission does not apply to reproduction for advertising, promotion, resale, or other commercial purposes.