Kateryna Sosnytska
Social worker and psychologist at the Rehabilitation Center of Excellence, Dnipro
Kateryna Sosnytska supports patients on their journey from hospital back to their communities. She helps them restore lost documents, apply for a prosthesis, find housing, and access the psychological support they need. For Kateryna, the greatest reward is hearing someone say: “I want to live again. I want to find a hobby. I want to make plans for the future.”
If physiotherapists and occupational therapists help people walk again, regain the use of their limbs, and restore movement, then a social worker is the architect of a patient’s social recovery.
The social workers… We help with everything: guiding patients through paperwork, connecting them with support services, and making sure they know where to turn once they’re back home.
If a patient’s apartment building needs a wheelchair ramp, for example, I help prepare the paperwork and submit requests to the building association or the relevant authorities to make it happen.
Sometimes we also become our patients advocates inside the hospital. I remember one man who lost both legs after a drone strike. We worked with the police to obtain the necessary documentation, which then allowed him to begin the process of receiving prosthetic limbs.
Every patient requires a different approach.
Every person has the right to life, and the right to their own feelings and opinions.
And then, once they come around and return to life, it starts: “I want a hobby”. For you, that’s a balm for the soul.
A patient’s victory is when they get back on their feet and feel the joy of it. Even taking that first step brings joy.
The Story of KATERYNA SOSNYTSKA
Kateryna is a social worker and psychologist in the Rehabilitation Department of Dnipro Clinical Hospital and a member of its multidisciplinary team.
Before joining the hospital, Kateryna headed a homeowners’ association, where she worked extensively with residents, communities, and local leaders. This experience in communication and organisation proved valuable in her new role. Over time, Kateryna qualified as a psychologist and continues to pursue further training to this day.
She describes her role within the multidisciplinary rehabilitation team as accompanying a person on the journey from a hospital bed back to a full and independent life: helping to restore documents, communicating with local communities, supporting patients with prosthetic care, and assisting with matters such as inheritance or temporary accommodation. According to Kateryna, one of the most challenging aspects of her work is that social work is still a relatively young profession in Ukraine, and people often do not fully understand what it entails.
At the hospital, social support is an integral part of the multidisciplinary rehabilitation team. This approach is reflected in the multidisciplinary rehabilitation standards developed with the support of WHO Ukraine. The social worker works alongside Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine physicians, physical therapists, and occupational therapists, helping ensure that a patient’s needs are addressed not only during rehabilitation but also after they return to everyday life.
The team takes an individualised approach to every patient: they discuss which assistive devices or social services the person may need after discharge and develop a plan for the future. Kateryna emphasises that this approach is based not on a diagnosis or a patient’s status, but on respect for the person.
She particularly values the moments when she sees patients begin to change: people who arrive feeling lost and overwhelmed gradually discover new interests, start smiling again in the mornings, and begin making plans for the future.
