| The lectures in the seminar were presented by well known speakers in the Social Services field in Saudi Arabia. The program started at 8:00 am and ended at 3:00 pm consisting of three sessions. The opening was started by reciting verses of the Holy Quran followed by an introduction speach by the Saudi Social Studies Society then a word by the Deputy Vise President of the Chief Executive Officer of Operations in the Central Region.
The first session started at 9:15 am and was conducted by Professor Abdullah Al Reshoud. There were two lectures presented by Dr. Mardiyah Al Bardesy and Dr. Nasser Al Oud. The first presented a lecture about the most important psychological and social problems patients with chronic diseases experience, in addition to that patient's needs as well.
A Chronic Disease is defined by the U.S. National Center for Health Statistics as a disease that persists for a long time. Chronic diseases generally cannot be prevented by vaccines or cured by medication, nor do they just disappear. Diabetes, Viral Hepatitis and Cancer are considered Chronic Diseases.
Dr. Abdullah Al Oud's lecture was about the Social Services' role in dealing with Chronic Diseases. He empathized on the Social Workers part in helping patients cope with the chronic diseases they have and helping the patients' families understand and support the patients in the process of adapting to the new life they found themselves in.
Dr. Al Oud played a video portraying a young female who recently found that she had breast cancer and how she is coping with this disease and how her family is helping her adjust as well. In addition to the first video he played another one that presented a session of group therapy and how it is very helpful in making patients find the support and comfort of having other people who share their condition and going through the same circumstances.
One of the coordinators of the program, a social Worker Specialist Mr. Ahmed Al Ali pointed out the importance of the Social Workers in contributing significantly in raising the awareness of the patient's families and the community in dealing with patients with chronic diseases. Social workers help the patient in adjusting to their medical condition and help the patient's family in exploring options and solutions to get the patient back on track when needed.
"Having a chronic disease reflects on the patient's mental health and the family should be aware of that as the patient needs a special care as it helps in understanding the patient's behavior and the reason behind it." Mr. Al Ali said.
The second session was conducted by Dr. Abdulaziz Al Dakheel, which had two lectures presented by Dr. Thelal Al Maddah "Preparing the patient's family in dealing with the patient." The other lecture was presented by Dr. Ahmed Al Muhameed which discussed "Patient's legal and treatment rights."
"We are in need of making the Social Worker able to intervene more in the medical sector and hospitals as we need to promote the quality and efficiency of their skills." Dr. Al Bardesy said.
The last session was conducted by Dr. Abdullah Al Oud. A lecture titled "The importance of training and developing the social worker in dealing with chronic diseases." was presented by Professor Abdullah Al Reshoud followed by workshop presented by Dr. Abdulaziz Al Dakheel and Mr. Abdulmajeed Tash of new strategies to programs and services provided to patients with chronic diseases.
"I would like to thank the Social Services Department at King Abdulaziz Medical City for conducting such seminars. These seminars have a positive reflect on social workers in understanding social and psychological problems patients with chronic diseases experience. It also helps the social workers in raising the awareness of the community in regards of its role and importance in the medical field." Professor Abdullah Al Reshoud at Imam Mohammed bin Saud University.
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