WV Rural Health
Education Partnerships
Faculty Development Committee
Training Manual for
Interdisciplinary Session Facilitators
Incorporating Social
Work into Interdisciplinary Learning Experiences
Definition
"Social work has been described
as a profession of many faces. This
means that while there are some core values and principles, social workers may
apply these in a broad range of creative ways.
To paraphrase the mission statement
of the National Association of Social Workers, the primary purpose of social
work is to enhance the well-being of members of the community with particular
attention to assuring that everyone’s basic needs are met. This is especially important to those who
are most vulnerable, oppressed and living in poverty so they can have the
necessary personal, social and economic resources to carry out their roles and
participate fully as contributing members of their families and community. In doing this, social workers are
particularly interested in enhancing the capacity of people to address their
own needs as well as to assist them in overcoming barriers that occur as a
result of organizational policies and practices, unmet community needs, or
difficulties within the family or neighborhood.
To achieve this purpose, social work
practice may take the form of working directly with individuals and families,
providing leadership and participating in community groups or organizations,
supervising or consulting with others, administering community programs,
advocacy on behalf of individuals or through political or social action,
developing and implementing policies to meet community needs, providing
education related to social work or other community service, research and
evaluation related to needs and service.
A key underlying theme of social
work is sensitivity to cultural and ethnic diversity and striving to end
discrimination, oppression, poverty, and other forms of social injustice."
Social Work in Health
Care Settings:
Social workers are employed in a broad range of
organizations and agencies in the community including most facilities that
provide health care services such as:
|
§
Hospitals
|
§
Home Health Agencies
|
|
§
Rehabilitation Centers
|
§
Hospice
|
|
§
Primary Care Clinics
|
§
Others
|
Services maybe available through social workers
who are directly employed by these organizations or through contractual
relationships on as-needed basis.
Rationale for social work in health care settings:
§
Nearly 70% of all health care visits have primarily a
psychosocial basis. The most frequent
psychosocial drivers of medical utilization are mental disorders,
alcoholism/drug addiction, deficient social support, lack of coping skills, and
a stressful home/work environment.
§
Psychosocial factors are positively related to poor
general health status, functional disability and long term health morbidity and
mortality. Many patients respond to
psychosocial stresses by developing vaguely defined, distressing physical
symptoms that have no organic basis.
§
Ignoring psychosocial needs of the patient often
invites uncontrolled escalation in medical visits, hospitalizations and related
costs and/or consumer dissatisfaction.
Other Settings for
Social Work Practice:
Social work practice settings include government
agencies, nonprofit organizations and for-profit companies such as the
following:
|
· Mental
health centers
|
· Schools
|
|
· Child
Protective Services
|
· Financial
assistance programs
|
|
· Adult
Protective Services
|
· Domestic
violence shelters
|
|
· Substance
abuse treatment center
|
· Counseling
centers
|
|
· Employment
and training facilities
|
· Information
and referral agencies
|
In addition some clinically-oriented social workers engage
in independent or group private practice. Often experienced social
workers can be found in administrative roles, supervision, planning, community
organization and development.
Social Service Providers
in the Community:
In addition to social workers, there are many
other providers of social services in the community in a wide variety of
organization and agency settings. These include volunteers, pre-professionals
and professionals in other disciplines. Some examples of social services with
aging adults include:
- Meals on Wheels
- Senior Centers
- Senior housing programs
- In-home support services –
personal care, assistance with activities of daily living
- Case management
Education
In West Virginia social work is a professional
discipline that is regulated by state law through the Board of Social
Work Examiners.
The Board develops and applies professional
standards to the practice of approximately 4,100 licensed individuals with the
official title, “social worker,” at the following levels:
- Licensed Social Worker
(LSW) Requires bachelor’s degree in social work from an
accredited social work program or related degree and successful completion
of the basic licensing exam
- Licensed Graduate
Social Worker (LGSW) Requires master’s degree in social work
from an accredited social work program and successful completion of the
intermediate licensing exam.
- Licensed Certified
Social Worker (LCSW) Requires master’s degree or doctoral
degree in social work from an accredited social work program, successful
completion of advanced licensing exam and 2 years post-graduate experience
- Licensed Clinical
Social Worker (LICSW) Requires master’s and/or doctoral
degree in social work from an accredited social work program, completion
of a clinical field placement and 2 years post-graduate supervised
clinical experience
- Temporarily Licensed
Social Workers Available for those with bachelor’s or master’s
degree related to social work and are pursuing a permanent license.
Social Work and IDS
Sessions
Social Workers can meet a
number of health care needs:
- Psychosocial
assessment. Social workers can contribute to
interdisciplinary services by completing social histories and assessments
with individuals and families related to interpersonal relationships,
stress and coping, access to community resources, social functioning,
developmental stages, and others.
- Medications.
Social workers can assist patients in completing paperwork to obtain free
or reduced-price medications. example from Greenbrier County when
social worker is located in the clinic - $300,000 - $400,000 worth of
medications in one year
- Suspected abuse or
neglect. Social workers can assist in assessing situations
where abuse or neglect of children or incapacitated adults is suspected
and in completing referrals for protective services
- Domestic violence.
Social workers can work with victims of domestic violence to obtain
suitable living facilities and other related services
- Accessing community
resource and discharge planning. Social workers can provide
leadership with individuals and families to identify and suitable
facilities for nursing home or other long-term care placement; obtaining
financial assistance for living expenses, obtaining in-home support
services, caregivers and others.
- Compliance with
medical treatment. Social workers can consult with medical
providers and patients to resolve problems in completing recommended
treatments including medications, other therapies.
- Emotional or
psychological distress. Social workers can provide
supportive counseling with individuals, families and caregivers who are
experiencing loneliness, depression, anxiety related to grief and loss and
other sources of stress.
- Living conditions at
home. Social workers can assist individuals and families
where there are concerns about the safety or adequacy of in-home living
conditions including obtaining durable medical equipment or assistive
devices, remodeling or ramps, etc.
- Behavior management.
Social workers can work with patients and care providers to develop and
implement strategies to decrease, eliminate or manage challenging
behaviors related to dementia or other cognitive impairment
- Mental health. Social workers can provide mental
health services including crisis intervention, psychotherapy and other
interventions.. Social work is the
largest professional provider of mental health services.
- Advance directives. Social workers can assist individuals
and families in understanding and completing advance directives as well as
accessing suitable services for end-of-life care.
How can health providers
access social work services?
- Referral. The health care provider essentially
“hands-off” responsibility for requested services to the social worker who
can be physically located in the same or another facility. Referrals can be initiated through
direct communication with the social worker to identify desired services
and related information. Some facilities have formal referral
procedures. Regular feedback to
the person who made the referral is available orally or in writing upon
request by the social worker.
- Collaboration. Facilities such as home health and
hospice agencies, nursing home, rehabilitation centers and some hospitals
use some form of interdisciplinary or multidisciplinary teams including
professionals and other providers involved with the individual’s care for
service assessment, implementation, and evaluation. All members of the team meet together
weekly or as-needed to communicate up-dated information and coordinate
services and develop a common program of care. The patient and/or family members or caregivers may
participate in these meetings.
- Consultation. When needed, the social worker works as
a co-service provider with the physician or other professional provider in
assessing needs, planning and providing care. The social worker may join with other service providers in
meetings with the patient and/or meet with the provider(s) to provide
guidance and recommendations as indicated. A common plan of care is developed and implemented by the
social worker and other service provider(s).
For more help and advice…
If you are planning an IDS session, and want more information about how
social work issues and social work students can be incorporated, ask your local
site coordinator to put you in touch with a Social Worker in your area. Or, you
can contact:
Robert
Jones, MSW, Program Assistant
Mountain
State GEC, WVU Center on Aging
304-293-2265
rjones@hsc.wvu.edu