The Changing Face of Health Care Social Work: Opportunities and Challenges for Professional Practice (original) (raw)

Social Work in Health Settings: Practice in Context , by Toba Schwaber Kerson, Judith L. M. McCoyd, and Associates

Social Work in Health Care, 2010

One of the unique features of this book is that the conceptual framework shapes each of the of thirty-one casebook chapters leading to a more coherent edited book than is often the case. The book is also unusual in the comprehensive and expanded way in which it defines and covers social work practice in health care. The many and extensive changes in the health care delivery and insurance systems, health policy and medical care are reflected effectively by Kerson and her colleagues in the selection of settings for the case studies and the careful attention paid by contributors to these issues as they discuss their practice experiences. The book is broadly divided into Part One: Individual and Family Work and Part Two: Group, Program and/or Advocacy Work. Good social work practitioners in health care settings quickly learn that their definition of practice needs to expand to include work with various size systems, so I was pleased to see that this book gives significant weight (12 of 31 chapters) to advocacy, group services and program development efforts within organizations, communities and even nations.

Managed care and social work: Practice implications in an era of change

J. Soc. & Soc. Welfare, 2001

DIVISION OF SOCIAL WORK The purpose of this article is to explore the role of the clinical social worker in a time of unprecedented change. The events of the last decade have transformed health care delivery as well as professional performance expectations. To facilitate understanding, the environmental considerations that surround these changes are traced and discussed. A direct linkage is made to clinical social work practice and suggestions for the future survival of the profession is discussed. These suggestions include: (1) a greater focus on behaviorally-based outcomes that result in cost-beneficial service provision; (2) increased marketing of social work services to health care providers; (3) promotion of social work services as an integral part of the success of the interdisciplinary team, (4) incorporate a macro perspective into micro or clinical practice approaches; and, (5) explore non-traditional roles for social work professionals to expand their current practice arena. Managed Care: The Beginning In the later part of the 1980s it became clear that the cost of health care delivery had reached a national crisis. Although, there may have been multiple reasons for this major contributions included: (1) the results of better health care with many people living longer; (2) increased technological advances and the costs associated with it; (3) the use of heroic measures to maintain life beyond its traditional boundaries; (4) the lack of health care approaches formulated and implemented on a national level that

What is Clinical Social Work? Practitioners' Views

What is Clinical Social Work? Practitioners' Views, 2023

A clear definition of clinical social work [CSW] remains necessary to guide education, to inform the public, and to orient funders and regulators. Yet, from its earliest origins, clinical social work has defied simple definition. With varying definitions, we wondered how contemporary clinical practitioners viewed their work, whether they affirmed these definitions, or included other aspects of practice, knowledge, skill, and practice focus. This qualitative study explored how 40 contemporary clinical social workers across the United States define CSW, theories, and skill sets that support its practice. Thematic analysis revealed that CSW practice has a person in environment focus, systems perspective and an emphasis on social justice. Findings also affirmed the view that CSW is a value and purpose driven practice that emphasizes the treatment relationship that utilizes the person-in-environment framework in relation to understanding, assessing, and treating psychosocial problems with unique perspectives and skills while addressing social justice concerns. Implications for social work education and practice included strengthening monitoring and evaluation since this was scarcely mentioned as tasks of CSW as well as identifying theoretical frames that align with the social work code of ethics and the profession's overall identity.

Advancing social work practice in the health field: a collaborative research partnership

Health & social work

This article describes and analyzes the development of a collaborative research model by one university faculty of social work and 10 health care settings. Established working relationships for educating students were the foundation of a research partnership formed to study questions of mutual interest. This article discusses the developmental stage of the research consortium, including needs assessment, workshop, identification of a common theme and research topic, preliminary funding, and literature review. This stage resulted in the decision to develop and test an instrument to screen for high social risk that would be capable of identifying the need for social work involvement with families to provide effective and efficient management of patients. The Delphi methodology was chosen in the first phase of the research design, and reasons for the choice of this methodology, the results from the two Delphi rounds, and a preliminary screening instrument are presented. Finally, issues...

Social workers in integrated health care: Improving care throughout the life course

Social Work in Health Care, 2018

Great strides have been made in highlighting the strengths of the social work profession as a workforce vital to improving the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Neverthe less, substantially more work is needed to advance education, practice, and research involving social workers' potential and their contributions to improved care throughout the life course. This special issue offers exemplars of the power of social work in integrated settings with the capacity to address the scope of behavioral health, psychosocial, and physical health care needs. In today's rapidly evolving heath care context, integrated care represents a promising direction for the future of health services, and may be leveraged to improve population health across the life course. Papers selected for this special issue focused on two themes: (a) defining the expanding roles and functions social workers fulfill in integrated health settings, and (b) identifying organizational and system factors that affect social workers' delivery of interventions in integrated health models. This special issue further articulates the added-value of social workers on health care teams and the resulting improved outcomes for patients, families, and communities. Through increased evidence, such as the knowledge gained from this special issue, it is our hope that the profession continues to advance the boundary-spanning roles and capabilities of social workers in integrated health settings-both in the hospital and in community-based settings. KEYWORDS Integrated health care; social worker roles and functions; health and behavioral health The impetus for this special issue on grew out of an invitation to participate in a National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine forum on Promoting Children's Cognitive, Affective, and Behavioral Health and an accompanying Perspectives Paper released by the National Academy of Medicine (Boat et al., 2016). While immensely satisfying to be invited to discuss how the social work profession is preparing the workforce to improve care for children and families, it was also evident the potential of social work practice was relatively unexplored, despite great potential for impact. Great strides have been made in highlighting the strengths of the social work CONTACT Lisa de Saxe Zerden

Clinical Social Work and Its Practice

Clinical Social Work and Its Practice by Jamil Ahmadzada, 2021

This reference work provides an overview of clinical social work and its practice. The work covers the definition and goals of clinical social work, as well as its various components such as assessment, diagnosis, treatment, medication management, and case management. Each of these components is discussed in more detail, providing an understanding of the techniques and interventions used, as well as the benefits of each. Additionally, the work covers specific types of therapy, such as individual therapy, group therapy, family therapy, and medication management. The work concludes with a discussion of the importance of clinical social work and the future of the field, as well as final recommendations. Overall, this reference work provides a comprehensive understanding of the practice of clinical social work and its role in helping clients achieve optimal mental health and well-being.

AN OVERVIEW OF MEDICAL SOCIAL WORK.

Social work is a vast branch of knowledge that surrounds a large number of therapeutic treatments and methodologies .Medical social work a broader field of social work also known as hospital social work helps the patient to travel the world of medical care. Medical social worker also known as case worker plays a very real role in the rehabilitation and counseling of patients. This paper inspects the roles played by the medical social worker in hospital settings. The challenges faced by the medical social workers in hospitals have also been given special importance. This paper also clearly defines the duties and obligations of medical social worker for serving the patients in a beneficial way.