10 Things About Social Work in Health Care

1. The American Hospital Associations reortd that there are social work services being provided in 75% of their hospitals. (SW250 Class PowerPoint, 3/1/16)
2. The number of health care social workers in 2013 was 141,000. (SW250 Class PowerPoint, 3/1/16)
3. Early roles of a social worker in the medical field consisted of assisting patients with chronic disease management, mental health issues, drug and alcohol abuse, terminal conditions, physical disabilities, and accessing extended care services. (Judd and Sheffield, 2010, pg. 857)
4. Decentralization, devolution, standardization of care, cross-training, and the forces with in reengineering negatively impacted the social worker’s function within a hospital system. (Judd and Sheffield, 2010, pg. 858)
5. As a result of decentralization, hospital social workers were forced to compete for positions in which they used to normally fill. (Judd and Sheffield, 2010, pg. 858)
6. Ida Cannon was the first person to be identified as a medical social worker. (DiNitto and McNeece, 2008, pg. 193)
7. Medical social work incorporates the biopsychosocial model, a strengths perspective, and a multilevel practice. These are three theoretical perspectives that make up the foundation of all social work practices. (DiNitto and McNeece, 2008, pg. 200)
8. “One-third of U.S. adults do not have adequate health literacy to manage their health care needs.” Medical social workers are very important as they help those who have low health literacy. (Liechty, 2011. pg. 99)
9. “One of the most important developments for social workers in health care was the Health Maintenance Organization Act of l973.”(SW250 Class PowerPoint, 3/1/16)
10. Medical social work was defined as a specific type of social case work that focused on the relationship between disease and social maladjustment. Social workers were given the job of “providing some occupation or experience for the person jolted out of his regular plan of life by chronic disease, to offset what he has lost and to make him feel that he has still a useful place in the world.” (SW250 Class PowerPoint, 3/1/16)

 

Sources:

DiNitto, D., & McNeece, Carl Aaron. (2008). Social work : Issues and opportunities in a challenging profession (3rd ed.). Chicago, Ill.: Lyceum Books

Judd, R., & Sheffield, S. (2010). Hospital Social Work: Contemporary Roles and Professional Activities. Social Work in Health Care, 49(9), 856-871. doi:10.1080/00981389.2010.499825

Liechty, Janet M. (2011). Health literacy: Critical opportunities for social work leadership in health care and research.(Report).Health and Social Work, 36(2), 99

SW250 Class Lecture, PowerPoint, 3/1/16