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Role of Medical Social Worker, Thesis of Social Work

Roles of a medical social worker

Typology: Thesis

2017/2018

Uploaded on 03/27/2018

richie-malhotra
richie-malhotra 🇮🇳

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What do Medical Social Workers do?
The Medical Social Worker (MSW) is part of the multidisciplinary healthcare team,
providing interventions to support patients and their families during the recovery from and/or
adjustment to acute or chronic medical conditions. Patients' recovery and quality of life hinge
upon the ability of the patient and family to cope and adjust to the impact of the the medical
conditions and ensuing disability on their lifestyle, finances, employment and relationships.
Poor adjustments and coping indicated by poor mental well-being can have profound impact
on health and productivity. MSWs help patients and their families learn how to manage life
crises due to acute or chronic medical conditions, and focus on improving their mental and
physical well-being to achieve self-reliance. They also help reduce the burden of patients and
their families from incurred social and healthcare costs.
The core functions of MSWs include:
Biopsychosocial-spiritual assessment - assessing the strength and resilience of the
patient, families, and social support systems to help the individual function within the
community.
Family education and mediation-educating the family on the physical and
psychosocial needs of the members and ways they can access internal and external
resources, as well as mediating familial conflicts
Counselling for individuals, couples and families - counselling patients who suffer
from poor mental health states (e.g. depression, anxiety), and coping and adjustment
difficulties (e.g. due to loss of limb through amputation, loss of hearing, or caring for
family members suffering from dementia)
Risk assessment - assessing risk of self-harm (eg suicide) and to others (eg family
violence, elder abuse, child abuse).
Financial assessment and fund management - identifying and referring cases for
financial assistance
Discharge Planning -working together with medical, nursing and other allied health
professionals, patients and their families to develop and implement the post discharge
care plan
Information & Referral Services - linking patients and caregivers to community
resources.
What are the fields of practice for Medical Social Workers?
There are also opportunities to work in the different medical disciplines and in specialized
fields:
Geriatrics / Nephrology / Oncology / Psychiatry
Trauma Work
Grief and Bereavement Counselling and Palliative care
Case Management
Individual Psychotherapy, Marital Counselling and Family Mediation and Therapy
Group Work
Community Network and Advocacy
Research and Teaching
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What do Medical Social Workers do?

The Medical Social Worker (MSW) is part of the multidisciplinary healthcare team, providing interventions to support patients and their families during the recovery from and/or adjustment to acute or chronic medical conditions. Patients' recovery and quality of life hinge upon the ability of the patient and family to cope and adjust to the impact of the the medical conditions and ensuing disability on their lifestyle, finances, employment and relationships. Poor adjustments and coping indicated by poor mental well-being can have profound impact on health and productivity. MSWs help patients and their families learn how to manage life crises due to acute or chronic medical conditions, and focus on improving their mental and physical well-being to achieve self-reliance. They also help reduce the burden of patients and their families from incurred social and healthcare costs.

The core functions of MSWs include:

  • Biopsychosocial-spiritual assessment - assessing the strength and resilience of the patient, families, and social support systems to help the individual function within the community.
  • (^) Family education and mediation-educating the family on the physical and psychosocial needs of the members and ways they can access internal and external resources, as well as mediating familial conflicts
  • Counselling for individuals, couples and families - counselling patients who suffer from poor mental health states (e.g. depression, anxiety), and coping and adjustment difficulties (e.g. due to loss of limb through amputation, loss of hearing, or caring for family members suffering from dementia)
  • Risk assessment - assessing risk of self-harm (eg suicide) and to others (eg family violence, elder abuse, child abuse).
  • Financial assessment and fund management - identifying and referring cases for financial assistance
  • Discharge Planning -working together with medical, nursing and other allied health professionals, patients and their families to develop and implement the post discharge care plan
  • Information & Referral Services - linking patients and caregivers to community resources.

What are the fields of practice for Medical Social Workers?

There are also opportunities to work in the different medical disciplines and in specialized fields:

  • Geriatrics / Nephrology / Oncology / Psychiatry
  • Trauma Work
  • Grief and Bereavement Counselling and Palliative care
  • Case Management
  • Individual Psychotherapy, Marital Counselling and Family Mediation and Therapy
  • Group Work
  • Community Network and Advocacy
  • Research and Teaching

Responsibilities of a Medical Social Worker

Medical social workers start by assessing the patient for psychosocial problems, which they may need help with. They determine what psychological, social or financial problems a patient is having due to their medical condition.

Hospital social workers will not see every patient that comes into the hospital. They will usually receive a referral from a doctor or nurse for social work services.

After assessing the patient’s needs, the social worker will intervene as needed. The assistance needed may vary depending on the patient’s needs. For example, some patients may need help connecting with services in their community, such as a homeless shelter or drug treatment support. Other patients may need help understanding their medical condition and navigating everything involved with their hospital stay.

Social workers also provide patient education on treatment options and help coordinate services needed after discharge, such as medical equipment. Medical social workers also arrange grief counseling or other mental health services for patients.

Patient Services

Hospital social workers provide counseling and support services to patients while they are in the hospital and arrange for continued help and care in the home once the patients are discharged. According to www.mayoclinic.org, They can counsel patients for issues such as: coping with illness or grief, abuse, and help with psychotherapy issues. They can provide services for patients who need help with financial or vocational issues. For services that they cannot provide directly, hospital social workers refer patients to outside resources for assistance.

Discharge Duties

Once a doctor has cleared a patient for discharge, it is the responsibility of the hospital social worker to arrange the services that the patient may need at home. If those necessary services are not in order at the scheduled discharge time, the patient’s release could be delayed. A delay in the date of discharge can result in an extended hospital stay for the patient. As outlined in the entry in www.wikipedia.org, once patients are cleared for discharge, their medical status is down-graded by the insurance company because a hospital stay is no longer medically necessary. When that happens, the hospital loses money. So, it is important for hospital social workers to manage every detail of discharge duties very carefully.

Teamwork and Collaboration

Hospital social workers cooperate and communicate with everyone involved in a patient’s care. Taking the patient’s personal choices into consideration, they make recommendations to doctors and staff about the services and care the patient may need at home. As described on in the job description on www.healthecareers.com, hospital social workers function as an advocate for patients and their families.