Social Work in Health Care最新文献

Pregnancy can be a time of joy and hope but, for birthing parents struggling with a substance use disorder (SUD), it can be challenging. Social stigma, shame, and the potential legal ramifications present barriers to individuals seeking the care they need. Marginalized groups, in particular, face challenges that put them at even greater risk for substance misuse. Substance use during pregnancy can further impair the individual's level of functioning, and it has also been associated with problems in the social, emotional, and cognitive development of their children. Pregnancy and addiction each require guidance and good medical care. By integrating substance misuse treatment services under the umbrella of their medical care, clinics facilitate timely access to care, as well as help break the stigma associated with substance misuse. Our program offers a comprehensive and multidisciplinary approach to support pregnant individuals with SUDs. Interventions include support, education, case management, and mental health counseling. By providing optimal prenatal care early on, individuals can receive the treatment that they need so that they can achieve physical and emotional stability once the baby arrives, which ultimately has better outcomes for the parent and child's health and wellbeing.

This article aims to provide medical social workers with a discourse highlighting eight attributes within spiritual intelligence that may be drawn on to comfort persons with disability. This strengthens the medical social workers capacity to offer genuine solace through the disabled person's rehabilitation process. The attributes are holisticness, authenticity, trustworthiness, intentionality, ethical-mindedness, compassion, empathy, and present-centeredness, which will be described in turn. Within these discourses, the paper draws upon Frankl's logotherapy, Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Buber's dialogue philosophy, and the influence of mindfulness thought in relation to spiritual intelligence. These can all help medical social workers personally apply the eight attributes. This discourse is particularly relevant for medical social workers, as they dedicate their professional lives to helping persons with disabilities through their rehabilitation process.

Nearly half of Traditional Medicare beneficiaries receive their care through an Accountable Care Organization (ACO), in which provider groups are subject to healthcare cost and quality benchmarks for a defined patient population. Although the skills of the social work profession align with the goals of these contracts (coordination of service needs across multiple health and social care settings), there is little information on social worker inclusion as behavioral health providers in ACOs. We developed and administered a national survey of organizations (n = 227) with Medicare and Medicaid ACO contracts to provide an estimate of the percentage of ACOs that reported social worker-delivered behavioral health treatment. Approximately half of the respondents reported that social workers delivered mental health treatment, while a third reported that social workers delivered substance use treatment. Organizations that included specialty mental health treatment facilities were more likely to report social worker-delivered mental health and substance use treatment. Organizations that included rural healthcare facilities were less likely to report social worker-delivered substance use treatment. By describing the prevalence and predictors of social worker-delivered behavioral health treatment in ACOs, this study contributes foundational estimates for future research on the role of this important workforce in ACOs.

A companion robot named Hyodol is a digital technology implemented for eldercare in South Korea. Drawing insights from semi-structured interviews with public social workers actively involved in the Hyodol care program, this study explores how social workers contribute to the success of the robotic care program. Throughout the phases of selecting potential users, introducing older adults to the robot, and maintaining the robotic program, the practical wisdom of social workers plays an important role. Despite the increased workload in case management and the emotional labor associated with navigating the care system, these pioneering social workers maintained high morale to adopt the robotic care system. By shedding light on the specific roles of social workers, this study contributes to a deeper understanding of the intricate dynamics that underlie successful robotic eldercare.

Social workers play an important role in assessing social determinants of health (SDH) and providing behavioral health services in integrated care settings. Evidence suggests that integrated care interventions improve quality of life and other patient outcomes. However, the ambiguous role of social workers on the interdisciplinary team, the lack of protocol in SDH screening and intervention, and restrictions due to healthcare reimbursement limit social workers' ability to intervene. Future directions include standardizing integrated care models, evaluating integrated care's efficacy to address SDH, incorporating SDH into interprofessional training including role clarification and reimbursing for SDH assessment and intervention.

Loneliness significantly impacts the mental well-being of older adults, prompting an examination of psychological predictors and buffering factors associated with it in this demographic. A cross-sectional study involving 246 community-dwelling older adults was conducted. The UCLA Loneliness Scale identified predictors of loneliness, including negative mood, hopelessness (negative future expectations and loss of motivation), and despair. Buffering factors included ego-integrity, personal growth, and purpose in life. Regression analysis revealed that negative mood, negative future expectations, and despair increased loneliness, with negative mood showing a strong association. Conversely, ego-integrity, personal growth, and purpose in life reduced loneliness. The study underscores the complex interplay of psychological factors shaping loneliness in older adults, highlighting the importance of addressing both risk and protective factors. Social work practitioners in healthcare settings can play a pivotal role in addressing loneliness among older adults by leveraging these factors.

This study examined retention and its relationship to mental health, substance use, and social determinants of health in a randomized clinical trial of a behavioral HIV/sexually transmitted infection prevention intervention with drug-involved Black women (N = 348) under community supervision programs in New York City. Using secondary analysis, we used logistic models to test the association between factors related to mental health, substance use, and social determinants of health and follow-up assessment completion (three, six, and 12 months). Participants who were diagnosed with schizophrenia had lower odds of retention. Participants who misused prescription opiates during their lifetime or food insecure in the past 90 days had higher odds of retention throughout the intervention.

Black Alaskans face serious barriers to health care. This paper reports on qualitative results of a health needs assessment to understand the health challenges facing Black Alaskans. Utilizing exploratory thematic analysis, the findings indicate that Black Alaskans experience barriers such as high cost of care, underinsurance, lack of information and education, a shortage of BIPOC health providers, stigma, negative perceptions by health-care providers, and racism both in the community and in the health-care system. The paper concludes by discussing emerging health equity initiatives to advance responsive care for Black Alaskans.

This Department of Social Work Services (the Department) is one of the largest hospital social work departments in the country, with almost 600 staff, in the largest of eight hospitals and one medical school of a major health system. The Department's senior directors (three current and one former) share its innovative and effective collective leadership model that was initially developed in response to a confluence of unprecedented complex events stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. The experiences of these co-leaders, an evaluation of the model, future internal considerations as its applicability to other health care settings will be discussed.

Transformations in health care and attendant social work responses have eroded a health-care social work role grounded in holism and social justice. Tracing events at the intersection of social work, the labor movement, and health-care provision, this paper examines the evolution of social work's gravitation to micro-level practice and professionalism at the expense of macro practice, including labor organizing. It argues that engagement between health-care social work and labor unions is mutually beneficial and indispensable in preserving a role that reflects social work values in the face of massive socioeconomic inequality and health-care corporatization.