Social Work in Health Care最新文献

US healthcare remains a system in crisis, wherein spending outpaces other Western economies but health inequities match those of an emerging market economy. As a country founded in tenets of white supremacy, structural racism persists as evidenced by longstanding race-based disparities. Although the population health approach offers a potential framework for preventative and community-based health, without overt race-conscious design, race-based disparities will be replicated. This article outlines the current US context and healthcare policy changes that led to population health taking hold. It then articulates social work's pivotal role in population health by explicitly challenging colorblindness to reach race-based health equity. Opportunities for social work practice, leadership, and research are discussed.

Children and youth with special health care needs often undergo a higher frequency of sedated procedures, increasing their risk for complications, prolonged hospitalizations, as well as increased time and cost burdens. By consolidating multiple procedures requiring anesthetic sedation, the risk and cost can be reduced for both families and health care systems. In this paper, we discuss an innovative model to coordinate procedures across internal and external providers to improve quality of care for this vulnerable patient population. Although preliminary, our findings suggest this approach may be beneficial to both the patient, family, and health system.

Failure to thrive (FTT) is a DSM-5/ICD-10 diagnosis which describes infants and children who fail to grow within expected norms. The causes for poor growth are multifactorial and often include psychosocial factors. Social workers are important players in an interdisciplinary team approach to this diagnosis. This research and manuscript focus on the use of an integrated infant mental health pediatric model of practice, and outcomes for one case study. The article will review the social worker's role in the treatment of FTT, effective social work services provided in an integrated behavioral health approach, and a review of a cost-benefit analysis of treatment of FTT in a Primary Care Facility verses a hospital setting.

This paper describes the Wellness in Chronic Care (WCC) model, an innovative integrative clinical intervention method aimed at helping social workers manage the care of patients living with chronic illnesses and their families. The goal is to propose appropriate clinical responses to the changing reality of the health system. This new reality poses new challenges that require caregivers (social work practitioners and family members) to develop suitable skills and expertise. The intervention method we developed offers a new paradigm that entails partnership and the need to assume responsibility in decision-making while coping with the illness over time. The intervention provides practical tools and methods for coping and managing the illness. These factors have contributed to building a specifically tailored intervention program for patient and family care to achieve an effective and meaningful wellbeing. An assessment of the training program of the intervention model and its implementation is presented. The model was found to be essential yet some found it difficult to make the needed changes.

Older adults often experience different forms of discrimination, whether it be on the basis of their age, gender, race, or ethnicity (Rochon et al. 2021). Many older adults have stated they have experienced the health care system differently because of their race or ethnicity . Understanding older adults' experiences and their perceptions of ageism and racism can guide future work. This observational cross-sectional study captured community-dwelling older adults' perceptions about their experiences with ageism and racism. A few opened-ended questions were included in the cross-sectional survey. While results did not yield differences with respect to perceptions of ageism by race; there were statistically significant results in regard to perceived racism, with higher scores on the racism scales for individuals who self-identified as Black. Discussion and implications for practice, policy and research are explored.

Quality of life (QoL) is a widely recognized and valuable social outcome measure in drug treatment and rehabilitation services, but the discrepancies in QoL perceptions between service users and providers remain under-explored. In this study, semi-structured interviews were conducted with service users (n = 22) and providers (n = 29) to capture their perceptions of QoL and explore the similarities and discrepancies between their views. A thematic analysis and contrast exploration revealed a shared understanding of QoL that extends beyond health to six dimensions and prioritizes empowerment and connection. However, divergent views emerged regarding the priorities of material conditions, emotional well-being, and physical health. Findings underscore the importance of using shared decision-making as a strategy to effectively address these discrepancies and promote a more patient-centered approach in treatment and rehabilitation services.

This paper reports findings from a qualitative study conducted on the Need for Social work interventions in the Emergency Department (ED) at a large tertiary care center in India. The emergency department is an important social work intervention point for individuals with various psychiatric, medical, and social needs who have little or no additional interaction with social services. Social workers are specially trained to understand the impact of social factors on health outcomes and provide interventions that address social barriers to improving health and accessing community resources; social workers are well prepared to provide services in the emergency department. However, limited research is available to understand the impact of psychosocial services in the emergency department. We aimed to identify areas which require integrated social work services and coordination to address the psychosocial issues within the ED. Interviews with 10 healthcare workers are analyzed thematically. Recurring themes throughout the interviews confirm the need for providing social work interventions to ensure the medical, psychological, and social care needs in the emergency department.