Serving With Empathy: Social Worker Chia-Lan Chang

Specialties: patient counseling  |  caregiver resources  |  social-welfare navigation  |  group facilitation

Favorite pastime: discovering the different “scripts” in every life

Guided by God: From Single Professional to Working Mother

I thank the Lord for leading me to KFSYSCC. I earned my social-work degree from Shih Chien University in 2005 and completed internships at National Taiwan University Hospital and the Garden of Hope domestic-violence center. My first full-time posts were at Tri-Service General Hospital in Keelung and Tamsui Mackay Memorial, where I rotated through general wards, the ER, a nursing home, and a transplant service. While still single I practically lived on the wards—day shift or night shift made no difference.

For our liver-transplant patients we ran horticulture therapy, mountain hikes, and other creative groups. I still feel the jolt of joy that shot through me the day I climbed a trail hand-in-hand with a little girl who, months earlier, had hovered near death.

Marriage and children shifted my focus. I joined the Family Caregiver Alliance Taiwan, advocating for families like my own. Our helpline rang with voices from every strata—attorneys, day laborers, even people experiencing homelessness. Walking into their homes, I saw stories they rarely dared to tell and learned to judge less and listen more.

Why KFSYSCC? Because People Come First

When I read that KFSYSCC puts respect for people, patients and employees alike, at the center, I knew I had found my next home. Years on the floor had taught me just how helpless illness can make a family feel. Empathy and attentive listening are the social worker’s tools for standing with them.

Inside the hospital my role is a bridge. I need sharp self-awareness and keen observation: What family dynamics surface in a care conference? Who allies with whom? Where is the tension? I translate medical language into words patients understand and bring patients’ unspoken worries back to the team.

Looking Ahead: No Regrets for Patients or Families

How long does accompaniment last? One night? A few weeks? Several years? Each patient walks a silent road to KFSYSCC carrying unique hopes and fears. My assignment is to keep regrets at bay, for them and for the people who love them.

Social work is a helping profession and a calling. I’m grateful to practice it here and eager to keep learning whatever I lack. Thank you to every colleague who has guided me as I settle in; together we will keep growing inside the KFSYSCC family.