Abstract
Summary The article addresses the continued lack of clarity about the role of the mental health social worker within community mental health teams for working age adults and particularly the limited evidence regarding this from the perspective of service users. It compares findings from the literature, found to originate from a predominantly professional viewpoint, with secondary analysis of a national survey of service users to assess their views. Findings Three particular aspects of mental health social workers’ role identified in the literature were, to some extent, also located within the national survey and can be summarised as: approaches to practice, nature of involvement, and scope of support. The presence of these features was largely not substantiated by the survey results, with few differences evident between service users’ experiences of mental health social workers compared with other mental health staff. When nurses and social workers were compared, results were either the same for both professions or favoured nurses. The findings point both to the difficulty of articulating the social work contribution and to the limitations of the secondary data. Application The findings are a useful benchmark, highlighting the limited evidence base and the need for further research to improve both the understanding of the mental health social work role and how it is experienced by service users. The profession is keen to emphasise its specific contribution. Research evidence is required to underscore this and to ensure that the role is not subsumed within generic practice.
Highlights
Social workers have played a major role in the development of community mental health services for adults in England
Summary: The article addresses the continued lack of clarity about the role of the mental health social worker within community mental health teams (CMHTs) for working age adults and the limited evidence regarding this from the perspective of service users
Application: The findings are a useful benchmark, highlighting the limited evidence base and the need for further research to improve both the understanding of the mental health social work role and how it is experienced by service users
Summary
The 1959 Mental Health Act gave additional responsibilities to social workers including post hospital discharge support (Burns, 2014). A decade later, the Medical-Psychological Association (1969) recommended that a new body of mental health social workers with additional training was required to support the growing numbers of people with profound and complex mental health needs living in the community (Godin, 1996). The introduction of the Approved Social Worker in 1983 (MHA, 1983) conferred on this group of staff further duties and responsibilities to conduct assessments where formal detention was considered. Within this role their duty included investigating the feasibility of community alternatives to avoid hospital admission (Rapaport, 2005). Government policies which sought to reorient mental health services towards care in the community often included an enhanced role for social workers within integrated services (e.g. DH, 1975, 1989, 1990, 1995, 1998; Health Act, 1999)
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