The Role of a Social Worker in the Deep Brain Stimulation Preoperative Evaluation: The DBS-FACTS Screening Tool.

Background: Social workers (SW) are part of multidisciplinary teams for many surgical disciplines. Their role in deep brain stimulation (DBS) presurgical evaluations has not been defined.

Objectives: The goal was to characterize the role of SWs in a multidisciplinary DBS presurgical evaluation team and to construct a screening tool to identify patients who could benefit from a preoperative SW consultation.

Methods: A retrospective chart review was conducted on 100 consecutive patients.

Results: Ninety-seven subjects met with the SW. The median age was 68 years; 52% were female. Eight roles for the DBS SW were identified. The SW recommended follow-up for two subjects, and four additional subjects contacted the SW subsequently.

Conclusions: This study revealed how SWs could be integrated into DBS presurgical evaluations. Because most patients do not have specific SW needs, the mnemonic DBS-FACTS (finances, advance care planning, caregivers, transportation, and suicide risk) may identify patients who could benefit from SW consultation.