Social Worker Home Visit Checklist

It's important to be prepared before your home visit. You can do this by reading over your client's case notes to refresh your memory of their history and writing down any particular concerns you want to cover during the visit. Additionally, looking after your safety is very important, so it's a great idea to ensure someone at your practice knows where you are going and when you expect to return. You may have extra steps in place at your practice, like organizing a partner to come with you, scheduling check-in phone calls, or asking your clients to secure any dogs before your visit.

This checklist is designed to help you cover everything you need to during your home visit. You are expected to check many things, so having a written list is a great help to ensure you have a successful home visit and have the information necessary to determine what community resources to use and what you can add to your social support plan for your client.

This will depend on your client and their history with you, but it's a good idea to ensure the questions you ask are non-judgmental to help your clients feel comfortable enough with you to answer honestly. Some questions you might ask yourself before asking your client are: “Have there been any changes to the client's family members living here since we last spoke?"; "Have there been any observable changes to the client's living space since I last visited?"; “What is their escape route in the event of a fire?” and; "How are their mental health signs compared to the last visit?".