The social work movement in America in the early 1900’s created today’s programs and services. The poor and immigrants basic needs were addressed by early American social workers through promotion of safety and hygiene initiatives. The issues the early American social workers advocate still resonate in the profession today, such as improving access to health care and housing, wages and vocational education to the communities. They were in the forefront of curbing alcohol and narcotic abuse, as well as infant birth issues.
The early American social workers were also advocates for issues that continue to be goals of the profession today, such as increasing access to suitable housing and medical care, obtaining fair wages, and providing health and life-skills education to the community. Early social workers recognized felt that poverty and illiteracy could worsen health and were crusaders for social equality. As such, social work and health care share common goals and objectives, which created physician-social work relationships.
In the UK, Industrial Revolution and subsequent urbanization set the stage for social work. Overview of social work in the hospital sector and definition of hospital social work In health care, social work assists people who are dealing a medical problem to function within their situation. A medical social worker specializes in health care and works with patients and their families to provide required services to make their lives easier during the patient’s illness, and help them to cope with the consequences related to particular illness.
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) code of ethics mentions that social work encompass a set of core values – social justice, service, human dignity and worth, and importance of human relationships, integrity and competence Medical social work is a branch of social work. In general, medical social workers work in a hospital and possess at least one graduate degree (MSW or MSSW).
They provide psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses, and provide an array of services to the patients who are going through a short-term medical crisis, facing a life-threatening disease, a chronic illness, or assistance with long-term care or rehabilitation. The final goal is to facilitate a quick recovery. Typically, a hospital social worker does many things. They are part of the entire medical interdisciplinary team to create a safe and effective discharge plan for the patient, including setting up antibiotics, physical therapy, and a wide range of homecare services.
Among many tasks, communicating a diagnosis and treatment plan between doctors and family members; another is to assess and follow up on patient medical health. Medical social workers provide comfort to patient’s families by converting things from doctor’s language to easy explanations. Some work on interdisciplinary teams to evaluate various ailments, from geriatric and organ transplant to mental health. They may work for nursing and personal care facilities, hospitals, individual and family services agencies, or county governments.