Social Services Handbook

About the Book

Its purpose is to identify the medically related physical, psychological, social, spiritual, and financial needs of residents and to provide referral services to meet these needs. Social service staff assists residents in coping with illness and advocates different options available to them during their rehabilitation process. The medical care of nursing home residents is coordinated with the social service staff. The concerns of family members with respect to resident care can be effectively addressed by a social worker in the facility. The terminally ill residents and Alzheimer’s disease-stricken residents may need the social service staff’s intervention to cope with their death and dying.

About the Author

Dr. Alex Kodiath was born and raised in India. He became involved in community development as a student. Later, he started a cooperative society to address housing for the fishing community, and provision stores to prevent exploitation of the poor in the local community. In 1982, he secured a full scholarship to study at Boston College in the United States. After his studies in Boston College, he completed his Doctoral studies at the University of San Diego, California. He started the College of Geriatrics in 1988 as a consulting business, and began to focus on long-term care in San Diego, Riverside, Orange, and Los Angeles counties, where he contracted to consult at eighteen skilled nursing facilities from 1989 to 2015. As an educator and consultant, he promotes constructive changes for the care of elders. Training and certification quickly became a major part of his consulting because he believes that when caregivers receive proper training in constantly changing federal and state regulations, the quality of care improves significantly. For the past 25 years, he has conducted numerous seminars, in-services, and workshops for nursing home staff. Focused on developing the Social Service Department in the nursing homes, he has written the Social Service Handbook, a timely publication to assist staff in understanding their job in a Social Service Department in Nursing Home Facilities. Dr. Kodiath, with his wife Mary, has worked with the Native Americans in the United States and the less fortunate in Tijuana, Mexico. The Kodiaths founded a nonprofit organization called Samarpan. Through Samarpan, they have established a medical center, library, and education center in India. Dr. Kodiath is the president of this nonprofit organization. The Kodiaths facilitated spiritual retreats and leadership training for the homeless and HIV affected men and women for 12 years in Alpine, San Diego, California. They made more than 27 trips to India to advance Samarpan Healthcare Clinic, Children’s Library, and Education. The Lions Club International also presented him with the Melvin Jones Award. Dr. Kodiath received a Peace award for his humanitarian work from the city of Poway and various other organizations. He has been a frequent speaker on leadership for the graduate students at California State University, Fullerton. Dr. Kodiath also published the following books: Elder Care Precious Presence, Elephant Escapes to an Island, and Kris: The Elephant at Sea. These books are available at Amazon.com or by contacting the College of Geriatrics at (858) 231-6870 or akodiath@gmail.com.