Social workers are key members of the health care team who provide patient and family support on many levels. Not surprisingly, many go above and beyond to meet these needs. One is Sandra Blackburn, MSW, of Patient and Family Services at the Abramson Cancer Center (ACC), who received this year’s Oncology Social Worker of the Year Award from the Association of Oncology Social Work. It is the field’s highest national honor.
“Sandy has a transcendent and universal goal to make the world a better place with social work as her instrument,” one nomination noted. Partnering with both her social work coworkers and with staff in other disciplines, she has created support programs for patients and caregivers that give voice to emotions. For example, “Writing a Life,” a collaboration with the University’s English Department, is a writing group for cancer patients. Heather Sheaffer, DSW, director of the ACC’s Patient and Family Services, noted in her recommendation for the award that it has been “the most well-attended supportive offering” their group has provided.
Another “incredible collaboration” — with nursing — is Scanxiety, a workshop for patients and caregivers that provides information and support for scan-related anxiety, whether it be anticipation, the actual scan, or results.
Blackburn has been at Penn for more than 20 years, spending most of her career as a patient navigator in the ACC. But she wanted to do more. She returned to school, getting her master’s degree in social work at Penn in 2015. Then there was no stopping her. “From her first day in the MSW program, she dove into social work with her whole heart and mind,” Sheaffer wrote.
“Sandy is what we all want in a colleague,” wrote Eleanor Miller, MSN, manager of Oncology Nurse Navigation, who works with Blackburn in the Scanxiety workshops, “someone we can rely on who is encouraging, collaborative and brings a positive attitude each day.”
Blackburn’s recognition was not the only one for Patient and Family Services at the ACC. Diann Boyd, BS, RN, was named this year’s Outstanding Nurse Navigator by the Oncology Nursing Society, which also awarded the Nurse Navigation team Outstanding Achievement in 2018. It is the highest team award for any nursing team nationally.