Social work in health care: needs, challenges and implications for structuring practice

A structured multivariate practice model is proposed for improving social workers' capabilities to effectively satisfy patients' psychosocial needs. The model bases practice activities on an explicit theoretical framework. Using this approach may enhance the professional authority social work needs but which the biomedical framework of existing health care delivery systems frequently threatens: to autonomously make informed decisions to meet the psychosocial needs of populations at risk. The approach can also contribute to the development of an indigenous professional body of knowledge.