Riley Hospital for Children: Social

Work and Education Collaborations

Andrew Harner, MSW, LCSW
Clinical Manager for Social Work
Kristin Wikel, M.Ed
Manager of the Riley School Program
Agenda:
 History of the Riley School Program
 Mission of the Riley Hospital for Children School Program
 Different types of populations seen for education services
 Bio-psychosocial model
 Strengths Perspective
 Beliefs of Social Work in Healthcare
 Social Work Responsibilities

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History of the Riley School Program
 The Riley Hospital for Children School
Program has been part of the hospital
since 1924.

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The School Program’s Mission
 The mission of the school program at
Riley Hospital for Children at IU Health
is to serve and advocate for school-aged
patients and their families.

 School is an important part of a child’s

life. When it gets interrupted due to a
hospitalization, a Riley educational
liaison provides educational support.

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Different Types of Education Populations Served at Riley
Hospital for Children
 The Riley School Program provides education services to all medically appropriate
inpatients in kindergarten through the 12 th grade that are enrolled in public schools,
private schools, and homeschool programs.
 The school program also supports teen parents and siblings by offering direct
instruction assistance and transition back to school services.
Different Types of Education Populations Served at Riley
Hospital for Children
 2019-2020 Academic Year (July 2019-June 2020)
 # of inpatients seen for school services: 654
 # of outpatients seen for school services: 285
 # of tutoring “days”: 2,850
 # of homebound services, IEP recommendations, 504 plans: 253
 # of students working on High School Equivalency Programs: 2
 #of teen parents and siblings who attended school: 7
 # of Bear-In-My-Chair Deliveries: 18
 # of school reentry programs provided to schools: 32
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Bio-Psychosocial Model
 Expands the ecological systems theory, viewing the interrelatedness specifically
between person (physical, emotional and spiritual) and the social systems (family,
extended family, school, work and community)
Strengths Perspective
 All people, families and communities have strengths
 Strengths that individuals/families identify vs. strengths that are identified by others
 Effectively used as a resource when working with families
Beliefs to Social Work in Healthcare
 Social, cultural and economic conditions have a
significant measurable effect on health status and illness
prevention

 Illness related behavior, whether perceived or actual,

frequently disrupts personal or family equilibrium and
coping abilities

 Medical treatment alone is often incomplete and

occasionally impossible to render without accompanying
social support and counseling services

 Problems of fragmentation, access and appropriate

utilization of health services are sufficiently endemic to
health care systems and to require concerted community
planning as well as institutional innovations (Bracht,
1978)
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Responsibilities: Social Work

 Assess impact of hospitalization/diagnosis on family
system
 Determine appropriate interventions and resources
based on assessment
 Crisis intervention/support and addressing family
conflict
 Facilitate and resolve psychosocial barriers to
discharge

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Responsibilities: Social Work cont.’

• Facilitate decision making regarding

Facilitate continuation/withdrawal of treatment

Help • Help families advocate for patients and negotiate

treatment with the medical team

Coordinate • Coordinate information between medical team

and Department of Child Services (DCS)

• Work with area schools to help prevent a child

Work from falling behind due to hospitalization 11
Tips for Future Classroom Teachers
 Andy’s and Kristin’s key take-aways:
 Collaboration between professionals and legal guardians is very important!
 Inclusive care plans are very detailed and consider many factors
 The duty to report suspected abuse
 Watch for biasness within settings

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Thank you!!

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