Health Care Social Work Research Articles

Discovering health social work in New Zealand in its published work: Implications for the profession

Social work in health care has been a significant field of practice within social work in New Zealand since the 1940s. This paper reports on a project inspired by a fruitless search for a current discussion on the development of health social work in New Zealand. Analysis of a bibliographic search reveals an interesting history of health social work, as it emerged as an extension of the nursing role. Five distinct periods of development are identified through analysis of the literature. The paper concludes with a brief discussion of challenges and opportunities for health social work.

Hospital Social Work and Spirituality: Views of Medical Social Workers

This article is based on a study of 1,389 medical social workers in 108 hospitals across 12 countries, on their views on spirituality and spiritually sensitive interventions in hospital settings. Results of the logistic regression analyses and structural equation models showed that medical social workers from European countries, United States of America, Canada, and Australia, those had undergone spiritual training, and those who had higher self-reported spiritual experiences scale scores were more likely to have the view that spirituality in hospital settings is for facilitating integral healing and wellness of patients and were more likely to prefer spiritual packages of New Age movements as the form of spiritual program, understand spiritual assessment as assessing the patients' spiritual starting point, to then build on further interventions and were likely to attest the understanding of spiritual techniques as mindfulness techniques. Finally they were also likely to understand the spiritual goals of intervention in a holistic way, that is, as that of integral healing, growth of consciousness and promoting overall well-being of patients vis-à-vis only coping and coming to terms with health adversities. Results of the structural equation models also showed covariances between religion, spirituality training, and scores on the self-reported spiritual experiences scale, having thus a set of compounding effects on social workers' views on spiritual interventions in hospitals. The implications of the results for health care social work practice and curriculum are discussed.

Service improvement as an experiential tool for postgraduate students and service providers.

A project developed at Buckinghamshire New University is connecting postgraduate students in health and social care programmes, including nursing, social work and safeguarding, with service providers seeking to undertake service improvement evaluations. The Service Improvement Research and Evaluation Partnerships project was evaluated using participatory action research (PAR) and found that students gained a variety of skills through experiential learning and that service providers gained postgraduate-level evaluation from enthusiastic students with minimal staff input. This article describes the project and explains how it can assist service providers to complete robust evaluations, and help students to engage in 'live' evaluations in situ for experiential learning. It also details the PAR evaluation.

From Organizational Awareness to Organizational Competency in Health Care Social Work: The Importance of Formulating a “Profession-in-Environment” Fit

Today’s health care environments require organizational competence as well as clinical skill. Economically driven business paradigms and the principles underlying the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 emphasize integrated, collaborative care delivered using transdisciplinary service models. Attention must be focused on achieving patient care goals while demonstrating an appreciation for the mission, priorities and operational constraints of the provider organization. The educational challenge is to cultivate the ability to negotiate “ideology” or ideal practice with the practical realities of health care provider environments without compromising professional ethics. Competently exercising such ability promotes a sound “profession-in-environment” fit and enhances the recognition of social work as a crucial patient care component.

Social work in health care when conventional meets complementary: nonspecific back pain and massage therapy.

Through years of engagement within health, the profession of social work has worked diligently to influence and incorporate the professional values of holism and biopsychosocial-spiritual approaches into mainstream health care to support health care consumers. Continuing education supports social workers' specialized knowledge of health conditions as well as issues affecting health care systems and delivery. Two pressing and current issues in health of concern to social work are (1) nonspecific back pain and (2) the fastest growing consumer trend in North America--integration of complementary and alternative medicine. This article offers information relevant to social workers in practice about the complex and multifactoral condition of chronic nonspecific back pain and the integration of complementary and alternative medicine, in particular, massage therapy, as an effective evidence-based integrated approach.

Employment Hardships and Single Mothers’ Self-Rated Health: Evidence from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics

Using a national sample of single mothers from the 2007 and 2009 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, this study examined the effects of multiple employment statuses on the selfrated health of single mothers during the recent economic recession. Unlike other studies, the current study minimized selection bias by controlling for prior self-rated health, in addition to other predisposing factors, enabling factors, and need factors. We found that underemployment, but not unemployment, is associated with lower levels of self-rated health of single mothers. Results further indicate that the 25–39 age range (compared to the 18–24 age range), lower family income, prior lower self-rated health, more chronic diseases, and binge drinking place single mothers at an increased risk of lower levels of self-rated health. In contrast, strength-building physical activity is significantly associated with higher levels of self-rated health. Implications for health care policy and social work practice are drawn from the results.

Breaking Barriers and Building Bridges: Understanding the Pervasive Needs of Older LGBT Adults and the Value of Social Work in Health Care

Given the rise in the aging population and the increased use of health care services, there is a demand for awareness and training that targets underserved populations such as older lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) adults. Older LGBT adults are 5 times less likely to access health care and social services (King, 2009). Ethically responsible health service delivery is needed to capitalize on the strengths and capabilities of older LGBT adults and is vital for combating existing health disparities. Social workers aim to prevent ongoing gaps in care for older LGBT adults that can lead to negative individual and social consequences.

Hospital Social Work in Australia: Emerging Trends or More of the Same?

Social work in health care has been established for more than 100 years and is one of the largest areas of practice for social workers. Over time, demographic changes and growth in the aging population, increased longevity rates, an explosion in rates of chronic illness together with rapidly increasing cost of health care have created serious challenges for acute hospitals and health social workers. This article reviews the Australian health care system and policies with particular emphasis on the public hospital system. It then examines current hospital social work roles, including the continued role in discharge planning and expanding responsibility for emerging client problems, such as patient complexity, legal, and carer issues. The article concludes with a discussion of evolving issues and challenges facing health social work to ensure that social work remain relevant within this practice context.

Social work and netnography: The case of Spain and generic drugs

In this study, we examine a key issue for the sustainability of our welfare state: the patterns of consumption of generic drugs, the Internet, and healthcare social work. Taking the online context (netnography) as an object of ethnographic analysis, we analyze climates of opinion in relation to the consumption of generic drugs. We identify and analyze the linguistic framing and social discrediting of generic drugs via misinformation and the creation of risk perception to curb the social acceptability and consumption of these medicines in Spain. Based on the results obtained, we provide strategies that can be used by healthcare social workers.

Future Trends in Health and Health Care: Implications for Social Work Practice in an Aging Society

Major economic, political, demographic, social, and operational system factors are prompting evolutionary changes in health care delivery. Of particular significance, the “graying of America” promises new challenges and opportunities for health care social work. At the same time, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, evolution of Accountable Care Organizations, and an emphasis on integrated, transdisciplinary, person-centered care represent fundamental shifts in service delivery with implications for social work practice and education. This article identifies the aging shift in American demography, its impact on health policy legislation, factors influencing fundamentally new service delivery paradigms, and opportunities of the profession to address the health disparities and care needs of an aging population. It underscores the importance of social work inclusion in integrated health care delivery and offers recommendations for practice education.

Self-Reported Aging Anxiety in Greek Students, Health Care Professionals, and Community Residents: A Comparative Study

This study investigates the anxiety people feel about aging and the psychometric properties of the Anxiety about Aging Scale (AAS) in Greek samples. The AAS was administered in 3 groups: 147 primary health care professionals, 74 Nursing and Social Work students, and 99 community residents. A confirmatory factor analysis reproduced the 4 factors underlying the Greek-translated AAS, with acceptable reliabilities for the 3 samples. Multivariate analysis of variance showed that students expressed significantly more anxiety about aging (higher overall AAS score), more "Fear of old people," "Psychological concerns," and "Concerns about physical appearance," and less "Fear of losses," compared with professionals and community residents. Women reported the highest concerns about physical appearance compared with men. Students and professionals having experience with dementia showed lower and higher overall AAS scores, respectively, compared with those who had no such experience. The younger professionals without experience and the less educated ones with experience expressed higher overall anxiety about aging than the older professionals and the less educated both without experience. Our findings suggest the importance of implementing appropriate educational interventions and ongoing training tailored to assuage students' and professionals' anxiety about their own aging and lessen their agist attitudes toward old people.

Complicated Grief in the South African Context: A Social Work Perspective

Dr Cornelia Drenth is employed by the Hospice Palliative Care Association of South Africa in the capacity of Palliative Care Development Officer (Northwest Hospices). She has held a part-time private practice as a social worker for the past thirteen years (loss, grief and bereavement, trauma counselling, Road Accident Fund). Her field of expertise is social work in health care, with specific emphasis on loss and bereavement as well as conducting workshops in this regard. Her knowledge base includes palliative care, people living with disabilities, oncology, neurology, rehabilitation, and trauma management. Cornelia Drenth completed a Ph.D. (SW) from the North-West University (Potchefstroom, SA). She co-authored five published articles and contributed to The Legal Aspects of Palliative Care, published by HPCA. Alida Herbst (Ph.D.) is an associate professor and chair person of the Social Work Division in the School for Psychosocial Behavioural Sciences at the Potchefstroom campus of the North-West University, South Africa. Before entering academia, she worked as a medical social worker in 1 Military Hospital as well as a number of private hospitals in South Africa. She specialises in trauma and bereavement work and presents a number of workshops called the Comfort, Care and Compassion series. She has a particular interest in life story work and co-authored a book with the title Memory Work: Telling Your Story through Life Maps. Her research focuses on the psycho-social health of individuals, groups and communities. She has a keen interest in the community engagement activities of the university and is the chairperson of the Student Rag Community Services (SRCS) Advisory Board. The SRCS annually engage 3,000 student volunteers in ninety-two community projects focusing on early childhood development, youth development, support to vulnerable adults and a number of outreach projects. Alida firmly believes in creating co-constructed learning environments whenever she teaches. The ripples-on-apond model of teaching and learning offers an excellent framework for experiential learning and reflective practice which allows her to integrate narratives and art in her teaching on basically all graduate levels. It is particularly valuable when topics like ethics, the professional self, beginner’s practice and stress management form part of the teaching curriculum. She has presented a number of papers on related topics at both international and national conferences and has published a number of national and international scholarly articles. Prof. Herman Strydom was previously a staff member of the University of Pretoria and has since 1987 been appointed as associate professor and since 1999 as professor in Social Work at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University. He was also the Subject Head for Social Work for fourteen years until the end of 2012. His interest regarding subject matter focuses on HIV and AIDS, gerontology, crime and research methodology. He is author and co-author of 104 accredited journal articles, while he is also author and co-author of forty-four chapters in various textbooks and related publications. Herman Strydom is a NRF-rated scientist on level C3. He was involved in presenting eighty-two papers at national and eighty-six at international conferences.

Cultural and religious considerations in pediatric palliative care.

A growing multicultural society presents healthcare providers with a difficult task of providing appropriate care for individuals who have different life experiences, beliefs, value systems, religions, languages, and notions of healthcare. This is especially vital when end-of-life care is needed during childhood. There is a dearth of literature addressing cultural considerations in the pediatric palliative care field. As members of a specific culture often do not ascribe to the same religious traditions, the purpose of this article was to explore and review how culture and religion informs and shapes pediatric palliative care. Comprehensive literature searches were completed through an online search of nine databases for articles published between 1980 and 2011: PsychINFO, MEDLINE®, Journal of Citation Reports-Science Edition, Embase, Scopus, CINAHL®, Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), EBSCO, and Ovid. Key terms included: culture, transcultural, spiritual, international, ethnic, customs or religion AND end-of-life, palliative care, death, dying, cancer, or hospice, and children, pediatrics, or pediatric oncology. Reference lists in the retrieved articles were examined for additional studies that fit the inclusion criteria, and relevant articles were included for review. In addition, web-based searches of specific journals were conducted. These included, but were not limited to: Qualitative Health Research, Psycho-Oncology, Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, Journal of Pediatric Psychology, Journal of Pediatric Health Care, Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, Omega, Social Work in Health Care, and Journal of Palliative Medicine. Thirty-seven articles met eligibility criteria. From these, seven distinct themes emerged that have implications for pediatric palliative care. These include the role of culture in decision-making, faith and the involvement of clergy, communication (spoken and unspoken language), communicating to children about death (truth telling), the meaning of pain and suffering, the meaning of death and dying, and location of end-of-life care. The review of the literature provides insight into the influence of religion and how culture informs lifestyle and shapes the experiences of illness, pain, and end-of-life care. Recommendations for providing culturally sensitive end-of-life care are offered through the framework outlined in the Initiative for Pediatric Palliative Care Quality Improvement Project of 2002. Cultural traditions are dynamic, never static, and cannot be generalized to all families. Guidelines to aid in approaches to palliative care are provided, and providers are encouraged to define these important differences for each family under their care.

Preface to Second Edition of Special Issue: Social Work With the Military: Current Practice Challenges and Approaches to Care

"Preface to Second Edition of Special Issue: Social Work With the Military: Current Practice Challenges and Approaches to Care." Social Work in Health Care, 50(7), pp. 485–486

Gender differences in filicide offense characteristics—A comprehensive register-based study of child murder in two European countries

Objective This study searched for gender differences in filicidal offense characteristics and associated variables. Methods In this binational register-based study all filicide perpetrators (75 mothers and 45 fathers) and their crimes in Austria and Finland 1995–2005 were examined for putative gender differences. The assessed variables were associated with the offense characteristics, the offenders’ socioeconomic and criminal history, and related stressful events. Results Mothers had previously committed violent offenses less often than fathers (5% vs. 28%, p < 0.001) and they were less often employed (27% vs. 49%, p < 0.05). Mothers’ victims were on average younger than those of fathers; median ages of the victims were 3.4 and 6.1 years, respectively ( p < 0.001). Fathers were more often intoxicated during the offense (11% vs. 42%, p < 0.001) and also used shooting as the method of operation more often than mothers (5% vs. 27%, p < 0.001). Mothers used drowning, criminal negligence, and poisoning more often than fathers. Fathers’ motives were more impulsive in nature (13% vs. 41%, p < 0.001). After the killing, mothers tried to get rid of the body more often than fathers (25% vs. 7%, p < 0.05). Conclusions Fathers who commit filicide may represent at least two subgroups, the one not unlike the common homicide offender; the other, the overloaded, working and suicidal father. Mothers may include several types of offenders, one of which is the neonaticide offender. More detailed descriptions and, therefore, more research are needed. Practice implications Distressed parents and families need support and health care personnel, social work and other officials need to be alert to notice fatigued parents’ signs of despair, especially when several stressful experiences amass. Straightforward enquiry to the situation and even practical and psychological help may be needed for enhanced protection of children. The role of employers should also be discussed in relation to the welfare of working parents.

Social Work With Older People in a Hospital Setting

This article is a call for those who design social work courses to recognize the complexity and richness of aged care social work in health care and to social workers to shake off ageist attitudes and consider working with older people as a positive option in this rapidly expanding area of social work practice. A mixture of practice experience together with findings from the literature, this article explores social work practice with older people in hospital settings. Social work with older people has both therapeutic and practical components. The importance of integrating a therapeutic approach into all aspects of social work practice with this population cannot be overestimated.

Ethnocultural Empathy Among Students in Health Care Education

In a multicultural society, ethnocultural empathy has become an important element in most health settings and development of this capacity has become a central component for health care professionals in their interactions with patients and clients. In this study, differences in basic empathy and ethnocultural empathy were explored in a sample of 365 undergraduate students at the beginning and end of four master's programs in health care (medicine, psychology, nursing, and social work). Results showed that it was mainly psychology students in the first semester who had significantly higher general empathic skills and ethnocultural empathic skills compared to students in the other study programs. Few signs of differences between students in their first and in later semesters were obtained. The observed differences may be explained by (a) levels of admission grades and applications requirements or (b) different cultures and expectations from the surrounding milieus in the investigated study programs.

Introduction to the special themed issue on social work in health care

Introduction to the special themed issue on social work in health care

Goodness of Fit

This study addresses the fit between social work education and practice in health care. A random sample of NASW members identifying with health care (N = 179) responded to a mail survey about the utility of core knowledge and roles that we had identified by reviewing seven commonly used health care social work texts. Quantitative data revealed knowledge and roles most frequently used in health care settings as well as differences in roles used dependent upon department name; and different professionals supervising social workers. Qualitative data from four open-ended questions provided suggestions for what knowledge and skills should be taught in social work programs, the best forums/methods for teaching this content, and topics for continuing education. Findings are discussed in relation to six key areas of the peer-reviewed literature: vulnerable populations/diversity, ethical dilemmas, interdisciplinary collaboration, mental health, managed care/accountability, and advocacy. Implications for social work practice, education, and research are discussed.

English Language Proficiency and Health-Related Quality of Life among Chinese and Korean Immigrant Elders

This study examined the association between English language proficiency and health outcomes in a regional probability sample (n = 205) of elderly Chinese and Korean immigrants. Data support that these two Asian ethnic subgroups differ in English proficiency and health-related quality of life. Chinese and Korean elders had poorer health than the national norms, and poor English proficiency was associated with poorer outcomes for six of eight health outcomes measures. Implications for health care delivery and social work are discussed.