Social Worker Uses Common Bond to Effectively Share Patient Education

Many times, the first person newly admitted rehabilitation patients want to see is not a doctor or nurse, but a social worker.

For most rehabilitation patients, the social worker helps with adjustment issues, family concerns, and meals and parking, to name a few. These may seem like general tasks to some, but to patients in a new environment, they can be lifesavers. Kristy Davidson is one of those "lifesavers."

From her tone of voice to the special way she has of making herself heard, Davidson exudes what all in the health care industry should be striving to achieve. Her enthusiasm and support for the care of her patients seem boundless.

Davidson obtained a bachelor's degree from the University of Missouri at Columbia and a master's degree from the University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee. After working for some time in Indiana, she left the harsh winters behind for the Houston climate in 1977.

Davidson became a part of the social work department at The Institute for Rehabilitation and Research in 1978, spending four of 24 years as department manager.

In the early years, Davidson recalled the slower pace of rehab. Patients generally didn't arrive at a rehab facility until weeks, even months, after acute care.

"We had more time to talk to the patients and families back then," Davidson, a polio survivor who is also in a wheelchair, said, "but at the time, it seemed like it still wasn't enough before sending the patients back home. I never would have believed how quickly we discharge patients today."

It is easy to see the wheels turning in her head when Davidson is focusing on ... what needs to be done for discharge ... what referrals need to be put into place ... where will this patient live ... and who will care for this patient?

Recently, Davidson chaired an extremely difficult yet important project, in part supported by the TIRR volunteer family, to address women's sexuality in the spinal cord injury population. In the past, little information was available to use for this topic of discussion. This was due, in part, to the proportion of males versus the number of females with spinal cord injuries, which is 4 to 1, as well as myths and misconceptions about women in general. Davidson's efforts culminated in four videotapes targeting loss and adjustment, intimacy and sexuality, relationships, and attendant care. Panel discussions held were comprised of former TIRR patients, and were both frank and educational, paving the way for other women to have a means to obtain information and knowledge on a subject once before seen as unnecessary, useless or even taboo.

Davidson's dedication to the education of all persons with spinal cord injury has allowed for these videotapes, along with written materials, to bridge a gap in spinal cord injury patient education. In addition to the video project, Davidson teaches a module on attendant care and authored a workbook to supplement the class.

As Davidson's manager, Vanessa Southard, who is TIRR's social work manager, said, "Kristy truly exemplifies compassion, commitment, concern and love in all she does, which is the essence of rehabilitation."

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©2006 Texas Medical Center

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