Social work at the heart of the medical team

This paper proposes one model of hospital social work delivery services that places social work in a facilitative role within the medical team, and describes a pilot project designed to evaluate these services. Social work's role in this teaching hospital setting was tailored to provide patients and medical staff access to social work services upon admission, rather than at the time of discharge. This change places social work at the pivotal juncture to improve medical care and addresses the social, cultural and environmental concerns as they surface during patient stay. Unique to this demonstration model is the added advantage of placing the social worker at the hub of the physician-led medical team. Medical students, residents, and attending physicians all learn, observe, and experience the advantages social workers bring to the process. Educating medical students on teams with social workers bodes well for the profession. The authors summarize the program design, results and implications for social work practice in a teaching hospital setting.     

Obstacles to effective case management with AIDS patients: the clinician's perspective.

A social work clinician filled the role of case manager with multiple functions of discharge planner, client advocate, counsellor and educator in her work with a young male AIDS patient and his family. Material from this case is used to illustrate seven problem areas identified as obstacles to effective case management: (1) The stigma of AIDS and homosexuality (2) Lack of adequate family support (3) Impact of AIDS dementia (4) Ethical dilemmas in discharge planning (5) Conflicts in the advocacy process (6) Lack of adequate resources and (7) Countertransference issues. Clinical observations are integrated with the existing social work literature which focuses on providing services to AIDS patients.     

Key factors impeding discharge planning in hospital social work: an exploratory study

Despite its long historical tradition in Northern Ireland, there is a dearth of research studies on the role of hospital social work and the professional challenges involved at the health and social care interface. This is the first small-scale exploratory study in Northern Ireland that sought to identify the key factors that hospital social workers perceive as impeding their practice in the discharge planning process. A 15-item postal questionnaire was developed and distributed to 30 hospital social workers from four hospital social work departments in a city in Northern Ireland. The study group comprised social workers based in a range of hospital directorates who had differing levels of hospital social work experience. Data generated from the questionnaires suggested that deficits in community resources impacted most negatively on social workers' practice in discharge planning. The length of time respondents had been in their current post was also shown to influence their responses to the perceived impediments in their discharge planning role. The implications of the study and recommendations are discussed in relation to in-service training, social work practice and continuing education in Northern Ireland.     

Cancer Survivors’ Social Context in the Return to Work Process: Narrative Accounts of Social Support and Social Comparison Information

Purpose Returning to work is a process that is intertwined with the social aspects of one’s life, which can influence the way in which that person manages their return to work and also determines the support available to them. This study aimed to explore cancer patients’ perceptions of the role of their social context in relation to returning to work following treatment. Methods Twenty-three patients who had received a diagnosis of either urological, breast, gynaecological, or bowel cancer participated in semi-structured interviews examining general perceptions of cancer, work values and perceptions of the potential impact of their cancer diagnosis and treatment on work. Interviews were analysed using the iterative process of Framework Analysis. Results Two superordinate themes emerged as influential in the return to work process: Social support as a facilitator of return to work (e.g. co-workers’ support and support outside of the workplace) and Social comparison as an appraisal of readiness to return to work (e.g. comparisons with other cancer patients, colleagues, and employees in other organisations or professions). Conclusions Two functions of the social context of returning to work after cancer were apparent in the participants’ narrative: the importance of social support as a facilitator of returning to work and the utilisation of social comparison information in order to appraise one’s readiness to return to work. The role of social context in returning to work has largely been absent from the research literature to date. The findings of this study suggest that social support and social comparison mechanisms may have a significant impact on an individual’s successful return to the workplace.     

Dialysis patient characteristics and outcomes: the complexity of social work practice with the end stage renal disease population

This article describes a demonstration project designed to explore psychosocial risk and resiliency factors, social work interventions and health-related outcomes with dialysis patients. The study is unique in including an interdisciplinary research team to guide the process, using available data contained within the medical record and focusing on interventions and outcomes over time rather than at one or two points in patients' treatment histories. It demonstrates the complexity of practice with dialysis patients and the crucial role for social workers in enhancing patient outcomes. Secondary benefits of this methodology and implications for social work practice and research are discussed.     

Social and public policy analysis: a niche for social work practice

This article provides front line social work practitioners with a mechanism for becoming more meaningfully involved in social and public policy analysis. It suggests that a new entry point for shaping policy formulation should occur earlier on in the problem identification stage of the rational policymaking process. The article offers a series of process questions to guide this approach and contends that practitioners have the necessary knowledge and skills to effect the various role expectations required of them in this regard.     

Developing the role of the social worker as coordinator of services at the surrogate parenting center

A law permitting couples to conceive biological children through surrogacy was legislated in Israel in March 1996. The Rambam Medical Center has established the only nonprofit Surrogate Parenting Center at a public hospital in Israel. The multidisciplinary teamwork at the Center is case managed by a social worker. An important role of the social work intervention is consultation and support for the couple and the surrogate at all stages of the process. The case study presented in the article illustrates the need for sensitive and professional intervention due to the complexity of the surrogacy process and the crisis it involves for both the surrogate and the couple. In light of the growing parenting surrogacy cases in the United States, Europe, and Israel, a structured social work intervention model is described, which may be implemented at public or private surrogate parenting centers.     

Dialysis Patient Characteristics and Outcomes

SUMMARY

This article describes a demonstration project designed to explore psychosocial risk and resiliency factors, social work interventions and health-related outcomes with dialysis patients. The study is unique in including an interdisciplinary research team to guide the process, using available data contained within the medical record and focusing on interventions and outcomes over time rather than at one or two points in patients' treatment histories. It demonstrates the complexity of practice with dialysis patients and the crucial role for social workers in enhancing patient outcomes. Secondary benefits of this methodology and implications for social work practice and research are discussed.     

Towards authentic supervision of social workers in South Africa

ABSTRACT

Supervision of social workers has been practiced in South Africa for more than half a century. A process of authentication was reinvigorated at South African tertiary institutions in 2015 to decolonize university curricula. This process included dismantling of Western-dominated theories—also in social work supervision practice. The authentication of supervision is expounded in this article as steps in a process model devised with the aim to compose determinants and a definition of social work supervision in South Africa, in order to engender future nationally relevant inquiries into the ongoing development of an authentic body of supervision knowledge and practices.     

Vicarious growth among social work students: What makes the difference?

This study examined the contribution of background variables, personal factors (professional commitment) and environmental factors (peer support and supervision) to social work students' vicarious growth as an implication of their field practicums with trauma victims. Special emphasis was placed on examining the role of secondary traumatisation in the growth process. The sample consisted of 259 social work students at three social work schools in Israel. All students conducted their field practicums in social services and worked with trauma victims. The findings indicated that the mean level of growth was moderate and significant contribution was made by the student's year of study. Specifically, students in their third year of social work school showed more growth than did students in their first year. In addition, a positive contribution was made by the students’ supervision satisfaction, professional commitment and secondary traumatisation. The findings thus highlight the possibility of students' growth during their field practicums. In addition, the study emphasises the significant role played by supervisors in these practicums, in terms of both helping students grow as well as dealing with the distress they may feel during this part of their social work training.     

Learning from each other: The social work role as an integrated part of the hospital disaster response

Australian social workers in health care have become important members of hospital disaster response teams. The development of the role and its integration into the mainstream disaster response has progressed over the last two decades. Recent international events have given affirmation to the importance of this role. The development of national and state based Disaster Management Plans in Australia began in the mid 1970's. Recognition of the need for experienced, skilled workers to provide emotional support, practical assistance and grief and bereavement counselling has resulted in the inclusion of social workers in several key parts of the disaster management response including the specialised area of Disaster Victim Identification. Following the Bali Bombing in October 2002, social workers worked with the Police Missing Persons Unit to provide support to families and facilitate the collection of ante mortem information. The process by which new services come about can be intricate and complex. In the field of health social work, the contribution of international programs such as the Mt Sinai Leadership Enhancement Program cannot be underestimated. As the Social Work Director of Westmead Hospital, one of the largest hospital social work departments in the country, participating in this program provided opportunities to share professional experience with international colleagues, many of whom are experts in their field. The social work role in disaster response has become internationally recognised and is an example of how collaboration and shared information and learning, can result in a profession working together to support key principles and values of practice for the benefit of those in need.     

Moral Learning in an Integrated Social and Healthcare Service Network

The traditional organizational boundaries between healthcare, social work, police and other non-profit organizations are fading and being replaced by new relational patterns among a variety of disciplines. Professionals work from their own history, role, values and relationships. It is often unclear who is responsible for what because this new network structure requires rules and procedures to be re-interpreted and re-negotiated. A new moral climate needs to be developed, particularly in the early stages of integrated services. Who should do what, with whom and why? Departing from a relational and hermeneutic perspective, this article shows that professionals in integrated service networks embark upon a moral learning process when starting to work together for the client’s benefit. In this context, instrumental ways of thinking about responsibilities are actually counterproductive. Instead, professionals need to find out who they are in relation to other professionals, what core values they share and what responsibilities derive from these aspects. This article demonstrates moral learning by examining the case of an integrated social service network. The network’s development and implementation were supported by responsive evaluation, enriched by insights of care ethics and hermeneutic ethics.     

Practicum Issues:

The significance of the practicum's role in the professional education of social workers is discussed. A model is proposed for matching student with practicum settings, to be used as a tool to facilitate the administrative work of the practicum. Major variables inherent in the placement decisional process are highlighted and codified into a standardized format. The results of a pilot test utilizing an earlier draft of the model are reviewed.     

Overlooked and underutilized: the critical role of leisure interventions in facilitating social support throughout breast cancer treatment and recovery

Breast cancer is a life event experienced by many women and is one that impacts various aspects of a woman's life including her occupational and family roles. A social worker is often an important part of a woman's health care team following a breast cancer diagnosis as well as throughout treatment, providing assistance in helping women to cope with negative social psychological effects associated with the illness experience. The purpose of this article is to provide social workers with an opportunity to consider the utilization of empirically established interventions such as social support from the relatively unknown field of leisure science. Through semi-structured interviews with eight women, the role and meaning of leisure and social support in the lives of women with breast cancer were explored. The findings indicated these women experienced and perceived social support through leisure activities with friends and family during and following treatment and also through their volunteer work following treatment. The research can help social workers understand the potential role of leisure interventions in meeting the needs of women with breast cancer throughout their illness experience. Implications for social work education are also highlighted.     

Learning from Each Other

Summary

Australian social workers in health care have become important members of hospital disaster response teams. The development of the role and its integration into the mainstream disaster response has progressed over the last two decades. Recent international events have given affirmation to the importance of this role.

The development of national and state based disaster management plans in Australia began in the mid 1970s. Recognition of the need for experienced, skilled workers to provide emotional support, practical assistance and grief and bereavement counselling has resulted in the inclusion of social workers in several key parts of the disaster management response including the specialised area of disaster victim identification.

Following the Bali Bombing in October 2002, social workers worked with the police missing persons unit to provide support to families and facilitate the collection of ante mortem information.

The process by which new services come about can be intricate and complex. In the field of health social work, the contribution of international programs such as the Mt. Sinai Leadership Enhancement Program cannot be underestimated. As the Social Work Director of Westmead Hospital, one of the largest hospital social work departments in the country, participating in this program provided opportunities to share professional experience with international colleagues, many of whom are experts in their field.

The social work role in disaster response has become internationally recognised and is an example of how collaboration and shared information and learning can result in a profession working together to support key principles and values of practice for the benefit of those in need.     

论医院医务社工在医疗纠纷中的职责

目的：医疗纠纷逐渐增多,使得医患关系日趋紧张,成为社会关注的焦点,有学者提出医院中的医务社工应该介入医疗纠纷,本文就医院医务社工在医疗纠纷中的职责进行探讨。方法通过文献回顾的方法,了解我国医务社工的职责以及在医疗纠纷中发挥的作用。结果在医疗行为进行过程中,医务社工的职责主要体现在,针对医患之间信息不对称的情况,通过调查、谈话等活动,弥补双方的信息不对称,预防可能发生的矛盾冲突,缓解医患关系。结论医务社工在医疗纠纷处理过程中,从专业的角度,运用个案工作、小组工作、社区工作等工作方法,在中间起到的是调和、缓冲的作用。医务社工坚持价值中立原则,理清自身的角色,明确自己的立场,从第三方的角度出发,不介入医学专业问题,使纠纷能得到合理合法的解决。     

基于河南洪涝灾害救援试论社会应急力量响应机制建设

随着社会的不断发展和进步,社会应急力量从单一的志愿服务融入应急救援工作,以2021年河南省洪涝灾害救援行动为切入点,探讨社会应急力量在救援行动中的作用,及如何建立一种秩序让社会应急力量规范参与自然灾害救援,构建一种新的机制,推动社会应急救援工作规范运行.     

Social work and the management of severe head injury

This article examines the role of the health social worker in the management of the psychosocial sequelae of head injury from the membership perspective. Data relative to the incidence and medical dimensions of head injury and its psychosocial sequelae are briefly reviewed. The social work definition of head injury as a social process, rather than a medical event, is explored. Social work interventions designed to help those affected by head injury to manage home and community life are examined.     

Rehabilitation, ethics and technique

This paper initially includes the presentation of some ideas on the deficiency and the process of rehabilitation, whereby the latter is defined in its "condition" as a process. A few differences in relation to the idea of a program in the strict sense (defined as a fixed set of previously defined procedures or techniques) will be detected, as well as some ethical implications in the social, health or educational fields for professionals working with the disabled. Thus, the handling of the technique and the use of institutional measures will be discussed in this context, inasmuch as they are related to subjective and educational processes inherent to rehabilitation work. In so doing, we hope to contribute to a better understanding of the role pertaining to these professionals.     

Social work management in emerging health care systems

An overview of the health care industry's trend toward multihealth systems is presented and specific adaptive strategies for social work managers in health care are suggested. The challenges to social work leaders during this transition from largely free-standing, privately owned health care institutions to corporately owned, horizontally and vertically integrated delivery systems are discussed in terms of identity, style, and substance. Directors of social work departments in multihealth corporations will need to resolve issues of institutional versus corporate identity as well as those of corporate versus professional identity. A multioptional management style that incorporates networking and political expertise should be cultivated. Substantive demands in the areas of management information systems, productivity, quality assurance, and budgeting also must be addressed. The emergence of multihealth systems poses major challenges and unique opportunities to the social work profession. Awareness of managerial strategies and critical content areas can help social work leaders enhance the role and contribution of social work in these exciting and complex health care delivery systems.