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Charlesgate Celebrates Our Team for Social Work Month

We recently celebrated Social Work Month here at Charlesgate. We took some time to reflect and highlight the social services departments of Charlesgate Apartments, Assisted Living and Nursing Center. There are many facets of social work taking place in the continuum of care on the Charlesgate campus, and our social workers and their contribution to our team are highly valued.

Charlesgate is unique in the fact that we provide Resident Services Coordinators (RSCs) at each one of our independent living building sites, where many housing companies can only provide one Service Coordinator for multiple sites. Although there are many differences between RSCs and social workers, much of the services the RSCs provide are considered social work. The focus of the RSC is the well-being of the community as a whole. An RSC will determine the needs and then initiate connections to resources and services. An RSC acts as a liaison between the resident and the service providers, benefit and entitlement administrators, and community agencies needed to help our residents maintain independence in the community for as long as possible.

RSCs also help to ensure that the services provided to the residents of our assisted living program at Charlesgate North are helping our residents achieve their best life possible. Examples of the services that RSCs coordinate for assisted living residents are transportation to medical appointments, housekeeping services, and educational and social programming. The RSC who helps our assisted living residents is known widely as a supportive and listening ear.

At this time, we are very lucky to also have Nicole Swanson, who is a Master of Social Work student from Simmons College interning with us at Charlesgate Senior Living Center. Nicole is an incredible support to our residents and is concentrating on her clinical education so she is able to provide our residents and staff with great insight into the newest treatment modalities in the field of behavioral health care.

Another service offered in the Charlesgate continuum is a Community Support Specialist (CSS). Sometimes, an RSC might need to refer services that are beyond their scope of work such as a behavioral health crisis, or a need for more in-depth support surrounding substance use and abuse issues. With this in mind, Charlesgate has partnered with Community Care Alliance and Age Friendly Rhode Island to create an in-house specialist position. The CSS floats between all of the Charlesgate independent and assisted living residences providing behavioral health support.

Charlesgate Nursing Center has two professional social workers who provide direct social services to residents and their families. The Nursing Center social services department promotes self-determination and assistance to our residents in meeting their individual goals for care by utilizing resources available within the facility and through community-based services. Our social workers assist direct care staff in managing behavioral challenges and develop individualized plans of care for each resident addressing cognition, mood, psychosocial well-being, behaviors and discharge planning. They assist in advance care planning and assure that each resident’s goals for care are respected and honored. These professionals are an integral part of our interdisciplinary team who foster partnerships to achieve and maintain a therapeutic environment that optimizes quality of life and independent functioning of each resident.

Charlesgate applauds the value that social service professionals bring to our business across the continuum of care, and champions the importance of looking through a social work lens in the provision of services to our populations. In fact, two of the administrators serving our three business components have social work degrees and backgrounds. Social workers are essential in strengthening communications among residents, families, and facility staff.

If you would like to get into contact with any of the above social service providers, to seek assistance, support, or simply to thank them for the limitless support that they provide to the betterment of our community, please call 401-453-9300 for apartment and assisted living staff and 401-861-5858 for the nursing center staff.