HOSPITAL-BASED SOCIAL WORK: CHALLENGES AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE.
Main Article Content
Keywords
Hospital social work, Interprofessional working, Hospital discharge
Abstract
This article analyses the complexity and challenges of hospital-based social work in the rapidly changing and financially driven climate of health and social care. It is based on the findings of an exploratory qualitative study of social work in an acute hospital in Northern Ireland. It considers the intensity and variety of social work practice in this clinical setting and explores the challenges and rewards of inter- professional collaboration. It suggests that hospital-based social workers occupy a unique place at the interface of health and social care, yet relatively little is known about their role and contribution. Whilst these highly skilled professionals play a pivotal part in ensuring the wellbeing of service users, their traditional roles have become secondary to co-ordinating hospital discharge. It is argued that the focus on avoiding delayed discharges and increasing patient throughput may overshadow their strategic and value based contributions. Finally, it is clear that inter-professional working can improve health outcomes and facilitate optimum wellbeing, this study highlights a number of areas of concern for social workers working in these teams.
References
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14. Cleak, H.M. and Turczynski, M. (2014) ‘Hospital social work in Australia: Emerging trends or more of the same?’, Social Work in Health Care, 53 (3), pp. 199-213.
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34. Linn, C.J. and Tjung, J.J (2012) ‘Discharge planning’, International Journal of Gerontology, 6 (4), pp.237-240.
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36. Millar, R., Brown, H. and Manjan, C. (2016) Integrated Care in Action, London, Jessica Kingsley.
37. McAlynn, M. and McLaughlin, J. (2008) ‘Key factors impeding discharge planning in hospital social work’, Social Work in Health Care, 46 (3), pp. 1-27.
38. McLaughlin, J. (2016) ‘Social work in acute hospital settings in Northern Ireland: The views of service users, carers and multi-disciplinary professionals’, Journal of Social Work, 16 (2), pp. 135-154.
39. National Audit Office (2016) Discharging older patients from hospital, London, NAO.
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41. NHS England (2017) Delayed Transfers of Care www.england.nhs.uk/statistics
42. Northern Ireland Audit Office (2016) Managing Emergency Hospital Admissions November, Belfast, NIAO.
43. Oktay, J.S. Steinwachs, D.M, Mamon, J. L.R. Bone and Fahey, M. (1992) ‘Evaluating social work discharge planning services for elderly people: access, complexity, and outcome’, Health and Social Work, 1 (4), pp.290-298.
44. Oliver, C (2013) ‘Social workers as boundary spanners: Reframing our professional identity for interprofessional practice’, Social Work Education, 32 (6), pp. 773-784.
45. Oliver, D., Foot, C. and Humphries, R. (2014) Making our Health and Care Systems fit for an Ageing Population, London, The King’s Fund.
46. Oliver, D. (2015) Improving Hospital Discharge and Intermediate Care for Older People, London, The King’s Fund.
47. Pethybridge, J (2004) ‘How team working influences discharge planning from hospital: a study of four multi-disciplinary teams in an acute hospital in England’, Journal of Interprofessional Care, 18 (1), pp. 29-41.
48. Reisch, M. (2012). ‘The challenges of health care reform for hospital social work in the United States’, Social Work in Health Care, 51, 873-893.
49. Swinkels, A. and Mitchel, T. (2009) ‘Delayed transfer from hospital to community settings: the older person’s perspective’, Health and Social Care in the Community, 17 (1), pp. 45-51.
50. Taylor B.J. (1998) ‘Service needs and individual qualifications: training Social Workers for the community care policy initiative and post-qualifying credits’, Social Work Education, 17(1), pp.77-93.
2. Albrithen and Yalli, (2016) ‘Peer interaction and hospital integration’, International Social Work, 59 (1), pp. 129-140.
3. Ambrose-Miller, W. and Ashcroft R. (2016) ‘Challenges faced by social workers as members of interprofessional collaborative health care teams’, Health Social Work, 41 (2 ), pp. 101-110.
4. Baginsky, M. (2014) ‘Social work in hiding? The views of other professionals on social workers and working with social workers’. Research, Policy and Planning, 30 (3), pp.143-154.
5. Banks, S. (2004) Ethics, Accountability and the Social Professions, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan.
6. Bengoa, R (2016) Systems, Not Structures-Changing Health and Social Care, Belfast, DHSSPS.
7. Barber, R.D. A.C. Kogan, A. Riffenburgh, and Enguidanos, S. (2015) ‘A role for social workers in improving care setting transitions: A case study’. Social Work Health Care, 54 (3), pp.177-192.
8. Beder. J. (2006) Hospital Social Work: The Interface of Medicine and Caring: New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis.
9. Beddoe, L (2013) ‘Health social work: professional identity and knowledge’, Qualitative Social Work, 12 (1), pp.24-40.
10. Bendor, S.J. ( 1998) The clinical challenge of hospital-based social work practice, Social Work in Health Care, 13 (2), pp.25-34.
11. Bull M. and Roberts J. (2001) ‘Components of a proper hospital discharge for elders’, Journal of Advanced Nursing, 35 (4), pp. 571-581.
12. Cornwell, J., Levenson, R., Sonola, L. and Poteliakhoff, E. (2012) Continuity of Care for Older Hospital Patients: A call for action, London, The King’s Fund.
13. Cowles, L.A. and Lefcowitz, M.J. (1992) ‘Interdisciplinary expectations of the medical social worker in the hospital setting’, Health Social Work, 17 (1), pp. 57-65.
14. Cleak, H.M. and Turczynski, M. (2014) ‘Hospital social work in Australia: Emerging trends or more of the same?’, Social Work in Health Care, 53 (3), pp. 199-213.
15. Craig, S. and Muskat, B. (2013) ‘Bouncers, brokers and glue: The self-described roles of social workers in urban hospitals’, Health and Social Work, 1 (1), pp. 7-16.
16. Cummings, S.M. and Cockerham, C. (1997) ‘Ethical dilemmas in discharge planning for patients with Alzheimer’s Disease’, Health and Social Work, 22 (2), pp.101-108.
17. Davis, C. Milosevic, B. Baldry, E. and Walsh A. (2005) ‘Defining the role of the hospital social worker in Australia: Part 2. A qualitative approach’, International Social Work, 43 (3), pp. 289-299.
18. Department of Heath (England) (2013) Healthy Lives, Healthy People: A Public Health Workforce Strategy, DOH, London.
19. DHSSPS (2016) Health and Wellbeing 2026, Delivering Together, DHSSPS, Belfast.
20. Fantus, S., Greenberg, RA., Muskat, B. and Katz D. (2017) ‘Exploring moral distress for hospital social workers’, British Journal of Social Work, 47 (8) pp. 2273-2290.
21. Gerdes K.E, and Segal, E. (2011) ‘Importance of empathy for social work practice: integrating new science’, Social Work, 56 (2), pp.141-8.
22. Green, D. (2007). ‘Risk and social work practice’, Australian Social Work, 60 (4), pp.395–409.
23. Glasby, J. (2007) Understanding Health and Social Care, Bristol, Policy Press.
24. Glasby, J. (2004) ‘Discharging responsibilities? Delayed hospital discharges and the health and social care divide’, Journal of Social Policy, 33 (4), pp.593-604.
25. Hall, P. 2005. ‘Interprofessional teamwork: professional cultures as barriers’, Journal of Inter-professional Care, 19 (1), pp.188–196.
26. Heenan, D and Birrell D. (2009) ‘Organisational integration in health and social care: some reflections on the Northern Ireland experience’, Journal of Integrated Care, 17 (5), pp.3-12.
27. Heenan D and Birrell D. (2018) The Integration of Health and Social Care in the UK: Policy and Practice. London Palgrave Macmillan.
28. Henwood, M. (2006) ‘Effective partnership working: A case study of hospital discharge’, Health and Social Care in the Community, 14 (5), pp. 400-407.
29. Houston, S., Casanova, M., Leveill, Schmidt, K., Barnes, S., Trungale, K. and Fine, R. (2013) The intensity and frequency of moral distress among different healthcare professionals’. AJOB Primary Research, 3 (2), pp.1-9.
30. Holliman, D.C., Dziegielewski, S.F. and Datta, P. (2001) ‘Discharge planning and social work practice’, Social Work in Health Care, 32 (3) pp.1-19.
31. Hudson, B. (2002) ‘Interprofessionality in health and social care. The Achilles heel of partnership?’, Journal of Interprofessional Care, 16 (1), pp. 400-7.
32. Javadi M. and Zarea K. (2016) ‘Understanding thematic analysis and its pitfall’, Journal of Client Care, 1, (1), pp.33-39.
33. Judd R.G. and Sheffield S. (2010) ‘Hospital social work: contemporary roles and professional activities’, Social Work Health Care, 49 (9) pp.856-71.
34. Linn, C.J. and Tjung, J.J (2012) ‘Discharge planning’, International Journal of Gerontology, 6 (4), pp.237-240.
35. Majeed, M., Williams, D., Pollock, R., Amir, F., Liam, M., Foong, K. and Whitaker, C. (2012) ‘Delay in discharge and its impact on unnecessary hospital bed occupancy’, BMC Health Series Research, 12, pp. 410.
36. Millar, R., Brown, H. and Manjan, C. (2016) Integrated Care in Action, London, Jessica Kingsley.
37. McAlynn, M. and McLaughlin, J. (2008) ‘Key factors impeding discharge planning in hospital social work’, Social Work in Health Care, 46 (3), pp. 1-27.
38. McLaughlin, J. (2016) ‘Social work in acute hospital settings in Northern Ireland: The views of service users, carers and multi-disciplinary professionals’, Journal of Social Work, 16 (2), pp. 135-154.
39. National Audit Office (2016) Discharging older patients from hospital, London, NAO.
40. NHS Providers (2015) Right Place, Right Time. Better Transfers of Care: A Call to Action. London, NHS Providers.
41. NHS England (2017) Delayed Transfers of Care www.england.nhs.uk/statistics
42. Northern Ireland Audit Office (2016) Managing Emergency Hospital Admissions November, Belfast, NIAO.
43. Oktay, J.S. Steinwachs, D.M, Mamon, J. L.R. Bone and Fahey, M. (1992) ‘Evaluating social work discharge planning services for elderly people: access, complexity, and outcome’, Health and Social Work, 1 (4), pp.290-298.
44. Oliver, C (2013) ‘Social workers as boundary spanners: Reframing our professional identity for interprofessional practice’, Social Work Education, 32 (6), pp. 773-784.
45. Oliver, D., Foot, C. and Humphries, R. (2014) Making our Health and Care Systems fit for an Ageing Population, London, The King’s Fund.
46. Oliver, D. (2015) Improving Hospital Discharge and Intermediate Care for Older People, London, The King’s Fund.
47. Pethybridge, J (2004) ‘How team working influences discharge planning from hospital: a study of four multi-disciplinary teams in an acute hospital in England’, Journal of Interprofessional Care, 18 (1), pp. 29-41.
48. Reisch, M. (2012). ‘The challenges of health care reform for hospital social work in the United States’, Social Work in Health Care, 51, 873-893.
49. Swinkels, A. and Mitchel, T. (2009) ‘Delayed transfer from hospital to community settings: the older person’s perspective’, Health and Social Care in the Community, 17 (1), pp. 45-51.
50. Taylor B.J. (1998) ‘Service needs and individual qualifications: training Social Workers for the community care policy initiative and post-qualifying credits’, Social Work Education, 17(1), pp.77-93.
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Published
Nov 24, 2022
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Hassan mohammed hamad alyami, Hamad Ali Hamad Al hotelah, Youssef mohammed Mansour Al Abbas, Rahmah mabkhoot masood alzaqzaq, salem ali mohammed al rubaie, Khalid Mohammed Bin Mohammed Al Qurayshah, Ruqaya Hassan Ali Al-Asmari, Sarror Saleh A Almasabi, Shaeel Mahdi Fares Alyami, & Ali Alhassan Ali Alshareef. (2022). HOSPITAL-BASED SOCIAL WORK: CHALLENGES AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE. Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, 29(04), 1932-1943. https://doi.org/10.53555/jptcp.v29i04.4989
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Author Biographies
Hassan mohammed hamad alyami
Social Work (Sociology), King khalid hospital NajranHamad Ali Hamad Al hotelah
Nursing technician, King Khalid Hospital NajranYoussef mohammed Mansour Al Abbas
Emergency medical services, King Khalid Hospital NajranRahmah mabkhoot masood alzaqzaq
Nurse, King Khalid hospital Najransalem ali mohammed al rubaie
Pharmacy technician, Habuna Hosbital NajranKhalid Mohammed Bin Mohammed Al Qurayshah
Pharmacy, King Khaled Hospital NajranRuqaya Hassan Ali Al-Asmari
Medical Secretary, King Khaled Hospital NajranSarror Saleh A Almasabi
Technician-Health Informatics, King Khalid Hospital The city : NajranShaeel Mahdi Fares Alyami
Emergency medical services technician, Najran General Hospital NajranAli Alhassan Ali Alshareef
Health services management specialist, King Khaled Hospitaln NajranHow to Cite
Hassan mohammed hamad alyami, Hamad Ali Hamad Al hotelah, Youssef mohammed Mansour Al Abbas, Rahmah mabkhoot masood alzaqzaq, salem ali mohammed al rubaie, Khalid Mohammed Bin Mohammed Al Qurayshah, Ruqaya Hassan Ali Al-Asmari, Sarror Saleh A Almasabi, Shaeel Mahdi Fares Alyami, & Ali Alhassan Ali Alshareef. (2022). HOSPITAL-BASED SOCIAL WORK: CHALLENGES AT THE INTERFACE BETWEEN HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE. Journal of Population Therapeutics and Clinical Pharmacology, 29(04), 1932-1943. https://doi.org/10.53555/jptcp.v29i04.4989