Role of Social Worker in Hospital and Healthcare

Introduction

According to Dr. Suresh Borole, the role of the social worker in the hospital perspective is very important for Patients with a range of health issues can get assistance and support from the hospital or medical social workers. For psychosocial issues, hospitalized patients can need a social worker. These might be linked to a physical condition or other health-related concerns, or they might be linked to a psychosocial issue like mental illness or homelessness. Medical social workers must do several tasks due to the complexity of the hospital environment.

Here are 4 Roles of Social Workers in Hospital

1. Collaboration

A major responsibility of the medical social worker is a collaboration with healthcare professionals. A multidisciplinary treatment team, which consists of experts including nurses, doctors, physician assistants, and physical therapists, performs this. The social worker contributes to communication between the patient, other team members, and the patient’s family. Communication can be difficult since different providers have different perspectives, but the social worker’s job is to make it easier so that the patient gets the best treatment possible.

2. Support

It might be stressful to be in the hospital. Social workers offer supportive counseling to patients and their families as a result. Patients dealing with addiction and chronic pain, as well as those facing mortality, disability, terminal disease, and social and mental health issues, can all benefit from the assistance of social workers. Patients with similar issues may benefit from group or individual counseling from social workers. Social workers are qualified to provide clinical and mental health services as needed because of their training in counseling, therapeutic approaches, and the treatment of behavioral and mental health conditions.

3. Advocacy

Medical social workers represent patients’ interests as advocates. This can entail communicating the patient’s willingness to the family and the medical staff or ensuring that the patient is provided with appropriate information regarding his or her care and treatment. The creation of advanced directives, which provide specific instructions regarding the patient’s desires regarding medical end-of-life decision-making, is a task that social workers help patients with frequently.

4. Case Management

As case managers, medical social workers coordinate the care of their patients. This may involve putting patients in touch with prosocial services. A social worker might, for instance, assist a patient who is homeless in finding a shelter or housing program. Medical social workers frequently participate in the discharge planning process as well as the organization of post-care services including at-home care, follow-up visits, or, if necessary, locating the patient in a rehabilitation center.