Healthcare Social Workers

What Healthcare Social Workers Do

Provide individuals, families, and groups with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses. Services include advising family caregivers. Provide patients with information and counseling, and make referrals for other services. May also provide case and care management or interventions designed to promote health, prevent disease, and address barriers to access to healthcare.

Career Outlook

National employment outlook, 2024–2034.

Related work experience

None

On-the-job training

Internship/residency

Self-employed

0.3%

Source: BLS Employment Projections — 2024-2034.

Key Knowledge Areas

Subject-matter areas this occupation draws on most, per O*NET.

• Psychologyimportance 4.9/5
• Therapy and Counselingimportance 4.7/5
• Sociology and Anthropologyimportance 4.4/5
• English Languageimportance 4.4/5
• Customer and Personal Serviceimportance 3.9/5
• Education and Trainingimportance 3.5/5
• Philosophy and Theologyimportance 3.1/5
• Administrativeimportance 3.0/5

Work Environment

What the day-to-day work setting is like, per O*NET.

• Telephone Conversations5.0/5
• Face-to-Face Discussions with Individuals and Within Teams5.0/5
• E-Mail4.9/5
• Contact With Others4.8/5
• Indoors, Environmentally Controlled4.8/5
• Work With or Contribute to a Work Group or Team4.7/5

Related Careers

• Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers
• Child, Family, and School Social Workers
• Marriage and Family Therapists
• Rehabilitation Counselors
• Social and Human Service Assistants
• Clinical and Counseling Psychologists
• Community Health Workers
• Health Education Specialists

Careers With Similar Skills

Occupations whose Transferable Skills profile most closely matches this one — a mathematical comparison, not observed data about people actually moving between these careers.

• Psychiatrists98% skill match
• Rehabilitation Counselors98% skill match
• Marriage and Family Therapists98% skill match
• Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Workers98% skill match
• Child, Family, and School Social Workers97% skill match
• Recreational Therapists96% skill match
• Human Resources Assistants, Except Payroll and Timekeeping96% skill match
• Probation Officers and Correctional Treatment Specialists96% skill match

Transferable Skills

Cross-functional skills this occupation draws on most, per O*NET — the kind that carry over to other careers.

• Social Perceptivenessimportance 4.3/5
• Service Orientationimportance 4.1/5
• Coordinationimportance 4.0/5
• Complex Problem Solvingimportance 3.9/5
• Judgment and Decision Makingimportance 3.6/5
• Persuasionimportance 3.3/5
• Negotiationimportance 3.1/5
• Systems Evaluationimportance 3.1/5

Software & Technologies

Tools and software used in this occupation, per O*NET.

Work Style

Personal work characteristics that matter most for this occupation, per O*NET.

• Empathy
• Cooperation
• Sincerity
• Dependability
• Social Orientation
• Stress Tolerance
• Integrity

Career Interests

This occupation’s RIASEC interest profile, per O*NET — how strongly it fits each of the six Holland interest types.

• SocialHigh
• InvestigativeMedium
• ConventionalMedium
• EnterprisingLow
• ArtisticLow
• RealisticLow

Where This Career Is Most Concentrated

Metro areas where healthcare social workers make up the largest share of local employment, relative to the national average (BLS location quotient).

1. 1Glens Falls, NY2.64× national avg
2. 2Springfield, MA2.49× national avg
3. 3Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH2.43× national avg
4. 4Kingston, NY2.40× national avg
5. 5Johnson City, TN2.30× national avg

Possible Career Moves

A computed starting point, not observed job-change data — see the full list for why each one might fit.

• Marriage and Family TherapistsLateral Move
• Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social WorkersLateral Move
• Child, Family, and School Social WorkersLateral Move
• Rehabilitation CounselorsLateral Move

See the full career path from Healthcare Social Workers →

Related Education Programs

Schools that offer related fields of study, based on the NCES CIP-SOC crosswalk — not a guarantee that graduates enter this specific career.