Social Work Staff Development in Health Care Agencies:

Abstract

Supervision and staff development programs have taken on increasing importance because of multiple demands on the social work practitioner and supervisor to play innovative roles in the delivery of health and mental health services. While supervisory and staff development activities are expanding, they are primarily organized by university-based continuing social work education programs. There is a need for concomitant expansion in agency-based education and staff development programs. These programs should be organized around issues relevant to the professional needs of social work staff in the agencies in which thev are emoloyed. Some of these issues are: How can staff development programs be organized to meet the requirements of various accreditating bodies? How can we reconcile the service and case management requirements for staff for the necessary time to attend courses and seminars? How can we maintain the competency level of staff required by the accrediting bodies? Can agencies collaborate with t...