Caitlin Whyte (Host): Welcome back to In Their Words, the podcast that brings you inspiring stories from UPMC in central PA and the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation. In our last episode, we heard the touching story of Cara Me Dar, a brave nine-year-old navigating life with diabetes. Today, we're excited to introduce to you someone who's played a role in Cara Me's journey, Denise Haas, Clinical Pediatric Social Worker at UPMC in central PA. In this episode, we'll explore Denise's world, learning about her dedication to helping young patients and their families. Denise will share with us her path to becoming a Pediatric Social Worker, the challenges and rewards of her profession and the day-to-day realities of her work at UPMC. We'll hear about the special moments that make her job meaningful and the impact she strives to have on the lives of children facing health challenges. Most importantly, Denise will take us back to her first encounter with Cara Me Dar, offering a unique perspective on this young girl's story and illustrating how a compassionate healthcare professional can make a world of difference in a patient's life.

Get ready to be inspired by Denise's dedication, moved by her experiences and enlightened about the crucial role of social workers in pediatric care. This is Denise's story. In her own words.

Denise Haas, Outpatient Pediatric Social Worker: So, my name is Denise. I work for UPMC. I'm a Clinical Pediatric Social Worker, and I have been here for about a year and three months.

So I think a lot of people have been meaningful in my life and have gotten me to where I am today. My mom herself is a social worker and I just really feel like helping people is something that I enjoy doing and I got my master's at University of Maryland in Baltimore.

So, I was doing adoption and foster care for about five years and I really liked it, but I realized that I wanted to do something different. And I know that when people come into our specialty office where I work, families are getting new diagnosis, they're learning new things, and it can be a really difficult journey.

And I thought that that would be a really good fit for me and something that I would enjoy doing. And being diagnosed with something is something that's so unexpected and it really changes the whole family dynamic.

So I know for one family, they came in to meet with a specialty and upon the provider talking with them, they realized that they weren't, they didn't have food and that they were really struggling on a lot of different levels. And I came in and I was able to give a gift card to them that UPMC has for $25 for gas, and I was able to print out information about local food banks.

So I printed the information about the food banks, and I gave them the gas card and said, why don't you guys go get food so you will have some for the rest of the week, and the family was more than appreciative. I would say being a social worker allows me to help people during their most difficult times and they're often in a vulnerable place and it's really hard to ask for help when you're ashamed or embarrassed and it's my job to normalize those feelings and allow them a safe space to feel heard and just going home and knowing that I've helped someone really brings me a lot of joy as well.

So, I feel like a lot of times people are unsure what a social worker does. So we can help with a lot of things like transportation, medication, and when I say medication, I mean maybe getting assistance with the medication, like for paying with it and stuff, finding mental health, finding housing, financial assistance, community organizations, help filling out paperwork, community organizations, just kind of being an advocate for family, normalizing what's going on, coming from a non judgmental place, letting them know, like, we're here to help you.

Host: As we delve deeper into Denise's story, we come to the day she first met Cara Me. Listen as Denise recounts, this encounter describing the instant connection she felt with this brave young girl.

Denise Haas, Outpatient Pediatric Social Worker: So, I'm usually brought into the room when people are in need or have, they have concerns. And so for this particular case, I remember that they were just talking um, the mom had reached out because she had a question about something in particular. And she began to tell me more about her daughter and how she was in a pageant and how she won the pageant and how she advocates for diabetes.

And although this has been a difficult journey for the family, they are embracing it, and using it as a platform, which is something so, so wonderful. And I remember specifically speaking to my supervisor about it and saying like, Hey, we have this patient who won this pageant and going into everything.

And I said, I really want to do something special for her. So we were able to give her some UPMC gear, like a water bottle, and a drawstring bag and some other stuff. And I just let her know that we're so proud of her and that UPMC supports her all the way. She was pretty excited about the stuff.

And then I told her she could take it home and she was like, Whoa. So, just being that extra support and letting her know that not only is what she's doing meaningful, but we are proud of her and we think what she's doing is amazing as well.

 I feel like a lot of times when families come in here and they get the news of a diagnosis, it's difficult and it's hard. And it just doesn't impact the child. It impacts the whole family and sometimes their way of life and learning new things. And she just embraced it and said, you know what?

Okay, I have this, but it's not the end of the world. And I'm going to use this to help educate other people. And you know, do my best to be that platform for people and it's just such a beautiful thing.

Host: As we continue our conversation with Denise Haas, we turn our attention to a crucial aspect of her work, the support provided by the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation. For social workers like Denise at UPMC in central PA, this foundation serves as an invaluable resource in their mission to help patients in need.

Denise Haas, Outpatient Pediatric Social Worker: Absolutely. So there's been a few instances. We had two separate kiddos who had braces on and each situation brought them to the point where the braces were stuck and that they couldn't afford to get them off and I had reached out to the Foundation and they said they'd be willing to help both and we were able to help both of the children get the braces removed that had been stuck on in their mouths for months. And just letting the family know that the Foundation was going to help. I talked to the, it was a parent and a child and I walked into the room and I said, we have this Foundation, they're going to help pay to get the child's braces off.

And both of them just started crying in the room. And it's just like such a beautiful, beautiful moment to be able to help the families. And I was able to set everything up and get them a taxi to the appointments and both of the children no longer have braces.

We had a family who the child was on medication and because of the child's age they were on a liquid form and, you know, some of it spilled out. Total accident, but the pharmacy can't refill it until the prescription is able to be refilled and the mom didn't have the money either to pay for a prescription and we actually used the pharmacy here through Harrisburg UPMC and they were able to fill the prescription just a little bit to make up for those that the liquid that had spilled out and the mom was just overjoyed because you know she needs the medicine and it's scary when you don't have a few dollars in your pocket and you don't know how you're going to help your child and the Foundation allows us to give those families that support that they need and they're just so grateful for it.

 So a lot of families, you know, having a car, paying for car insurance, paying for gas is very expensive and the families don't have the money to pay for those kind of things. And the Foundation will help a family using a taxi to get to an appointment that they need to get to, and then once that is completed, we will often help the families get, like Rabbittransit or MATP, which is for Dauphin County. So, not only does the Foundation allow them to get to where they need to go, but it's giving them that confidence and giving them the support, and then on our end, helping them complete that application,

helping them fax it, calling MATP, calling Rabbit, making sure they have those things set up so that they feel like they can take care of their children and get them to those appointments that they really need to go to.

Host: When asked why UPMC is a great place to work, Denise's response offers a personal and insightful look into the organization's culture and values.

Denise Haas, Outpatient Pediatric Social Worker: I feel like UPMC has some really wonderful benefits The support team that I get from my coworkers is wonderful. My supervisor is someone I can always count on for support. We work together to really help families. And sometimes I can't do it by myself and I need two or three people to help. And I know that if I call my coworkers, I have their support. There's also support from the hospital. And I know that with the Helping Hands Fund, we have things available, that we can really give families that extra support that they might need. And so I think working here is just a beautiful thing on so many levels. And also UPMC has so many different locations and so many different things available. We're not, we're like a one stop shop where you can get everything that you need.

 We use Paramedicine often, a lot of times, especially when a kid has a new diagnosis like diabetes, it's good to have someone in the house, like, is the equipment set up properly? Am I doing the insulin properly? Is this the way things are supposed to be? And having someone from Paramedicine come out and give them that extra support and the confidence that they need, it's really helpful.

Host: Listen, as Denise takes us through a typical day in her life, offering a glimpse into what it means to be a Clinical Pediatric Social Worker at UPMC in central PA.

Denise Haas, Outpatient Pediatric Social Worker: So for me personally, I don't do home visits, but I know that other people definitely do home visits and getting that one on one with a patient in person is really, really helpful. For me, I work at an outpatient children's pediatric specialty office. So I often will go into the rooms to help the family. So they might come in you know, to see the endocrinologist, and then the endo doctor will realize that the family needs more support, and then I can come in and give them all the resources and support that they need while they're here, and then follow up with them later.

 So we do have the care management phone number that you can always call and leave voicemails. And I know in my office here, I have my name and card with a little letter. So that way, if you come in and don't really feel like sharing your story with people, you can take my card and reach out to me anytime.

 So we have like our work queue. So if someone goes into a doctor's office and is struggling, then we would get something in our work queue that would let us know that the person needs help and then we could reach out to them and just say, you know, we all work together. We're here as a team. Your doctor had some concerns. We're here to help you. Let me know what I can do. This is what the doctor thought you might need help with.

So I was going to just say that I feel like being a social worker is the most rewarding job, knowing that I've helped people during a difficult part of their journey in life and giving people the tools and support they need to believe in themselves is something that is so meaningful to me.

And when I have families reach out months later and was like, oh, will you help me with this? Can you help me with that? I just want to be that safe space where they feel like they've been heard and we are non judgmental here and just giving them those tools to be as successful as possible and I think that UPMC really strives to help people be the best they can be in all aspects of life.

Host: As we wrap up this enlightening episode of In Their Words, we want to express our heartfelt thanks to Denise Haas for sharing her experiences and insights with us. Her dedication to her patients, her passion for her work and her embodiment of UPMCs values shine through in every story she shared. We've also seen how the support of the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation amplifies the impact of professionals like Denise, enabling them to go above and beyond in caring for patients and their families. Remember, every story matters and every act of kindness can have a ripple effect. Thank you for tuning into another episode of, In Their Words, brought to you by UPMC in central PA and the UPMC Pinnacle Foundation. Join us next time, as we continue to explore the human stories behind exceptional healthcare. Until then, take care. And remember, your story too, is worth sharing.