For decades, people have had misconceptions about social workers.

Some confuse social work with social services, while others think that social workers can provide financial assistance.

Although these statements are untrue, social workers play a vital role in improving the lives of the people with whom they come in contact.

"We are not here to make people change, we are here to help people help themselves change," said Diane Debiec, the acting chief of the Department of Social Work at Madigan Army Medical Center, (MAMC) who oversees more than 40 social workers.

On a recent afternoon, Debiec and fellow social workers Joni Leonard, Camille Zeiter, Capt.  Michelle Garcia, and Nancy Mooney, shed some light on their profession and squashed some popular misconceptions about their profession and services they provide.

Since the 1970s, Debiec has worked in the social work profession in one capacity or another. She chose the profession because she wanted to work with people.

"I wanted to do something to help people," she said. "I wanted to help people not just on a personal level, but on a larger level."

A potential social worker has to complete nearly a decade of school and supervised training, followed by taking a licensing exam, she said. To work in a Department of Defense (DoD) medical center a person must earn a bachelor's degree, followed by a Master of Social Work (MSW), complete a two or three year post-graduate supervised practice, and then become licensed.

In 2009, medical and public-health social workers held 139,000 jobs.  Over the next decade, that figure is expected to climb by 31,000, or more than 22 percent, a rate much faster than average, according to an article in U.S. News and World Report.

At MAMC, there are several specialty areas in which social workers are employed. Debiec oversees social workers in three service areas, including: medical, family advocacy, and preventive intervention.

Regardless of their area of specialty there are certain aspects of the job which are the same.

Social workers help people cope with and solve problems, assist people who are disabled or have a life-threatening illness, they offer aid to people with social problems such as unemployment or substance abuse, they assist people with domestic abuse and they help people deal with chronic,  acute, or terminal illnesses such as cancer or AIDS.  Social workers help people deal with how they feel about a problem and what they can do about it.

One example is an elderly patient with an altered mental status who is estranged from his family, explained Nancy Mooney, the chief of medical social work at MAMC.  This person lives in a humble place, and there are concerns voiced by neighbors who believe that they are unable to care for themselves. Social workers do a complete behavioral health assessment in order to develop an appropriate plan of care, she said.

Another example is a parent of a child who is admitted to the pediatric ward.  The young mother has several young children and the father is deployed. The mother is having a difficult time coping and she is overwhelmed, she explained.

"We provide counseling and support to assist mom in coping," said Mooney, who has worked at MAMC for the past 15 years.  "We are the embedded behavioral health providers on the wards and units."

Duties in medical social work include: working with inpatients, outpatients, ER patients and their families, patients with psycho-social issues, patients with end of life issues and discharge planning, Mooney said.

Joni Leonard became a social worker because social work is the only behavioral health profession that does not have a focus on pathology or a singular technique, she said. Also she liked the idea of creating programs that help meet people's needs. Her duties include working with family members and active duty military that have been sexually assaulted.

"I assist sexually assaulted victims with therapy, and I often get involved in their treatment," said Leonardwho studied social work at the University of Arkansas, and now works as the sexual assault program manager at MAMC.  "We try to make sure the victim is engaged in the system and makes it to their appointments. We do the things that deal with the whole person."