scholarly journals Hospital social work and discharge planning for older people: challenges of working in a clinical setting

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
Deirdre Heenan
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Older People ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Hospital Discharge ◽  
Discharge Planning ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Central Function ◽  
Hospital Social Workers ◽  
Hospital Social Work ◽  
Transfers Of Care

Abstract Across the world acute hospitals are under unprecedented pressures due to shrinking budgets and increasing demand, against this backdrop they are also experiencing record levels of activity in Accident & Emergency and delayed transfers of care. Reducing pressure on hospitals by avoiding unnecessary admissions and delayed discharges has risen up the global policy agenda. However, reviews of strategies and policies have rarely involved discussions about the role that hospital social workers play in achieving timely hospital discharge. Yet discharge planning has become a, if not the, central function of these professionals. This paper presents the results of a small-scale exploratory study of hospital social work in an acute hospital in Northern Ireland. The findings reveal that the work of hospital social workers is characterised by increased bureaucracy, an emphasis on targets and a decrease in the time afforded to forming relationships with older people. Hospital social workers highlight concerns that the emphasis on discharge planning and pressures associated with the austerity agenda limits their capacity to provide other more traditional roles such as advocacy and counselling. It is argued that hospital social work should not be narrowly defined as ‘simply’ co-ordinating discharge plans. The tension that arises between expediting hospital discharge and advocating for older people and their families is also discussed.

scholarly journals Social work with older adults in primary health – is it time to move our focus?

2016 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 37-48
Author(s):  
Sue Foster ◽  
Liz Beddoe
Keyword(s):  
Primary Care ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Older People ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Discharge Planning ◽  
Average Length ◽  
Public Hospitals ◽  
Family Work ◽  
Primary Care Sector ◽  
Medical Wards

Social work has made a significant contribution to the health care of older people for the last 60 years. At any one time, older people make up a significant number of our inpatient population in public hospitals. Social workers have not only had an integral part to play in discharge planning of this vulnerable population but also have played an important advocacy and support role with the patient and their families. Indeed, social work is traditionally the discipline that links the medical world to the patient’s world in the community. Recent data indicates the average length of stay (ALOS) in public hospitals is continuing to decline. Between 2001 and 2010, total ALOS decreased from 4.4 days to 4.1 days and in medical wards from 3.9 days to 3.5 days (Ministry of Health, 2011). (MOH).Ward managers have traditionally relied on social workers to provide safe discharges, particularly for older people who are vulnerable, but the pressure to concentrate on this service has increased as the pressure to manage very high bed occupancy also grows. Anecdotal evidence indicates that some social workers have been directed to attend to discharge planning only and any other issues that are identified are to be referred to their community colleagues. This demanding environment poses challenges for social work and raises the question whether more effective social work intervention for older people could be achieved in the community. Where should social workers concentrate their efforts in order to have the most effective outcomes? Would health social work be more effective if placed in the primary care sector? This article examines the skill base of health social workers in relation to working with older people, and argues that a move into primary care would result in a more effective use of our skill base which is after all centred in family work. 

Who's left holding the woman?: Practice issues facing hospital social workers working with women who have infants removed at birth by NSW Department of Community Services

2009 ◽  
Vol 34 (4) ◽  
pp. 29-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle Wickham
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Child Protection ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Community Services ◽  
Hospital Social Workers ◽  
Hospital Social Work ◽  
Supportive Counselling

Over the past three years, there has been a significant change in the focus of hospital social work intervention with pregnant women–from supportive counselling relating to motherhood, to systems advocacy within the child protection context.Hospital social workers in this field have frequently been faced with the inevitable conflicting interests of supporting parents and protecting infants. However, the recent changes have thrown up various ethical questions, and issues of integrity and advocacy, in what is a complex area of practice.This paper seeks to examine some of the current practice issues for social workers in this area. By examining the current context and literature, several practice themes will be considered and explored. In examining this issue at both the micro level of current hospital social work practice and the macro level of legislative and systemic issues, several best practice suggestions are considered within the context of the author's current workplace.

scholarly journals Death, dying and bereavement care during COVID-19: Creativity in hospital social work practice

2021 ◽  
Vol 20 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 131-137
Author(s):  
Mim Fox ◽  
Joanna McIlveen ◽  
Elisabeth Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Hospital Setting ◽  
Work Practice ◽  
Social Work Practice ◽  
Bereavement Support ◽  
Hospital System ◽  
Hospital Social Work ◽  
Complicating Factors ◽  
Bereavement Care

Bereavement support and conducting viewings for grieving family members are commonplace activities for social workers in the acute hospital setting, however the risks that COVID-19 has brought to the social work role in bereavement care has necessitated the exploration of creative alternatives. Social workers are acutely aware of the complicating factors when bereavement support is inadequately provided, let alone absent, and with the aid of technology and both individual advocacy, social workers have been able to continue to focus on the needs of the most vulnerable in the hospital system. By drawing on reflective journaling and verbal reflective discussions amongst the authors, this article discusses bereavement support and the facilitation of viewings as clinical areas in which hospital social work has been observed adapting practice creatively throughout the pandemic.

scholarly journals Hospitals and cultural diversity: social worker experiences and reflections

2017 ◽  
Vol 29 (2) ◽  
pp. 96-107 ◽  
Author(s):  
Doris Anne Testa
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Narrative Analysis ◽  
Cultural Sensitivity ◽  
Culturally Sensitive ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Frontline Workers ◽  
Hospital Social Workers ◽  
Culturally Sensitive Practice

INTRODUCTION: Social work accrediting bodies mandate that workers analyse ways in which cultural values and structural forces shape client experiences and opportunities and that workers deconstruct mechanisms of exclusion and asymmetrical power relationships. This article reports the findings of a small-scale qualitative study of frontline hospital social workers’ experiences and understanding of their mandate for culturally sensitive practice.METHODS: The study involved one-hour, semi-structured interviews with 10 frontline hospital social workers. The interviews sought to understand how frontline workers and their organisations understood sensitive practice. Drawing on their own social cultural biographies, workers described organisational policy and practices that supported (or not) culturally sensitive practice. Narrative analysis was used to extract themes.FINDINGS: Data indicate that frontline hospital social workers demonstrated their professional mandate for culturally sensitive practice. Workers were firm in their view that working with the culturally other requires humility as well as a preparedness to value and engage the multiple cultural meanings that evolve in the patient–worker encounter.CONCLUSION: The findings highlight that mandating cultural sensitivity does not necessarily result in such practice. Cultural sensitivity requires an understanding of how cultural and social location may be implicated in sustaining the dominant cultural narrative and signals the need for workers, systems and organisations to facilitate appropriate learning experiences to explore culturally sensitive practice.   

Social work interventions for human trafficking victims’ in Nigeria

2020 ◽  
pp. 002087281990116
Author(s):  
Solomon Amadasun
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Human Trafficking ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Short Term ◽  
The Social ◽  
Trafficking Victims ◽  
Social Work Interventions

Human trafficking victims require holistic and long-term services if their social conditions are to be improved. This study aims to explore the nature of social work services for human trafficking survivors. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with a cohort of social workers in a statutory anti-trafficking organization in southern Nigeria and the results were analyzed using thematic analysis. While the social workers reported providing services to trafficking survivors, these services were mainly rehabilitation-driven and short-term-focused. Although the research relates to a small-scale study, it has far-reaching implications for social work professionals and the Nigerian political leadership.

Bruising in older adults: what do social workers need to know?

2015 ◽  
Vol 17 (6) ◽  
pp. 351-359
Author(s):  
Sarah A. O. Matthews ◽  
Janet Reynolds
Keyword(s):  
Older Adults ◽  
Social Work ◽  
Older People ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Relevant Literature ◽  
Small Scale ◽  
Accidental Injury ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Social Work Practitioners ◽  
Non Accidental Injury

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss a research study exploring one aspect of adult safeguarding, that of non-accidental injury in older adults, specifically bruising. The study was undertaken with a view to analysing the current relevant literature and examining current practitioners’ views concerning bruising in older adults in order to understand social work practitioners’ awareness of and training in bruising. Design/methodology/approach – The paper describes a small-scale research study including two focus groups of social work and nursing practitioners. Themes arising from transcripts are coded by the analyst and are discussed in light of the summary and explanation of the literature reviewed following an initial scoping and exclusion exercise. Findings – The paper found that there is some evidence of typical and atypical non-accidental bruising emerging in older adults similar to that of children, but this tends to be treated as a clinical matter and mostly directed at medical staff. Research limitations/implications – Because of the chosen research aim, the research results focus on social work practitioners. Researchers are encouraged to explore other constituents further and to extend the scope of the literature review in terms of date and type. Practical implications – This paper will be of interest to all those concerned with the effective understanding of bruising as a sign of non-accidental injury in older people and especially the extent to which social work practitioners and others have to consider bruising during the course of their work with older people. Originality/value – This paper fulfils an identified need to study what social work practitioners and others need to know during the course of their work with older adults.

scholarly journals A Qualitative Study on How Social Workers From Regional and Metropolitan Queensland, Australia Perceive the Impact of the National Prioritisation System on Hospital Discharge Planning: A Study Protocol

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 160940692097354
Author(s):  
Bernadette Dimla ◽  
Denise Wood ◽  
Lynne Parkinson
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Home Care ◽  
Older People ◽  
Social Workers ◽  
Study Protocol ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Discharge Planning ◽  
Home Care Services ◽  
Dissemination Strategy ◽  
The Impact

In 2012, the Australian Commonwealth Government introduced a series of reforms for the aged care sector including the implementation of the National Prioritisation System for a flexible, accessible and demand-driven approach to home care services for older people. Nevertheless, an increasing number of older people continue to wait for months to be assigned home care packages on the national prioritisation queue, a component of the National Prioritisation System. There is limited evidence on the impact of the national prioritisation queue on discharge planning practices of social workers in supporting older people returning home from hospital admission. The aim of the research described in this paper is to explore the perceptions of social workers from rural and urban health services areas on how the introduction of the national prioritisation queue has influenced discharge planning of older people who are still waiting assignment of home care packages. This study protocol establishes the need for this qualitative study and provides an overview of the theoretical framework underpinning the research; discusses and describes the methods for sampling/recruitment and data collection, the approach to be utilised for qualitative analysis and the planned dissemination strategy. Understanding how social workers respond to the perceived challenges to discharge planning posed by the national prioritisation queue and the implications arising from the research have the potential to inform the development of best practice approaches and further enhance social work response to identified issues.

Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document