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Social advice

How we see ourselves
The consequences of a serious illness or of an accident completely change the lives of the people affected, the members of their family and the other people in their lives. Generally speaking,  the people affected are confronted by a whole array of uncertainties and problems after this sort of event. It is all the more important for them to maintain and reinforce a network of social contacts.

The Social Advice Team works with the people affected to come up with solutions tailored to their needs. Competent specialists help them to cope with the many obstacles they encounter day to day, as well as to maintain or establish a network of relationships on account of the changes in their lives.

Our remit
We offer advice and support to patients in hospital and to outpatients with the questions and problems they have in the following areas:

• Personal and family environment: Support in coming to terms with their changing day-to-day and transitional situations throughout the entire rehabilitation
• Insurance: Means-testing for benefits from invalid insurance, accident insurance, health insurance schemes, third-party liability insurance, occupational pension scheme, and social welfare
• Finance: Financial means-testing and assistance in acquiring aids, home adaptations, hardship resulting from the disability, payments from benefactors
• Living: Support looking for housing, shared accommodation, care centres, transitional solutions, and respite care stays
• Support and care after their discharge: Initial contacts and joint coordination meetings with Spitex community nurses, daycare centres, advice agencies, such as Pro Infirmis, or social advice centers, among others
• General legal questions: tenancy law, employment law, aliens law, etc.
• We organise and coordinate
• Various interdisciplinary meetings with patients and family members, as well as internal and external specialists
• We provide access to
• Advice on special legal matters and, if necessary, legal representation from the SPA's lawyers

Our job profile
We are a team of 5 social workers with a combined workload of 4.3 full-time positions, along with 1-2 students on practical placement. After completing basic studies in social work, we pursued further training in, among other things, social security, issues concerning foreigners, mediation, case management, and counselling techniques.

Areas of competence
The staff from the Social Advice Department know their way around the relevant laws, regulations and small print. People can turn to us for information about changes in social security provision. The processing of individual matters is primarily determined by the needs of the people affected and the different insurance situations. We provide individual, discrete advice free of charge in consultation with patients and the members of their families in German, French, Italian and English. We work closely with other internal and external agencies and departments. As social workers, we are bound by our professional code of practice and have a duty of confidentiality.