Home visits and observation of patients in their natural settings by physicians were no longer common due to the rise of large hospital settings, even though valuable information from the patient’s home life situations played a pivotal role in the accurate diagnosis and treatment of a patient. A physician felt a social worker could provide detailed reports and information about the social aspects of the patient’s life by developing relationship and filling the gap between hospital environments and a patient’s social environment (Cowles, L.A.F 2003) therefore appointed a nurse to the first social worker position in 1905. However, the original expectations of the social worker to provide key information and remove barriers to optimize medical treatment became multiplied by the efforts needed to not only assess, but create resources to remove and improve actual barriers. This in turn expanded the functions that social workers were able to perform and extended their services to offer an array of resources and support. These resources and support were provided by the social workers traditional teamwork and networking outside of the hospital setting and professional standards were developed. A combination of all of these factors were led by the theoretical perspective of the Person in Environment view that focused on physical, psychological, and social conditions that influenced the patient overall health condition and behaviors associated with them.
The chapter notes that a social worker in the medical setting must be competent in many levels, must be knowledgeable about their agency’s services, and know who provides each service in a complex organization such as a hospital. (Division of Labor) Finally, the Chapter informs the reader about funding for different types of organizations including public, voluntary, or proprietary and provides clear examples and situations of barriers that a patient may face when seeking medical treatment.
Reference:
Cowles, L.A.F (2003). Social work in the health field: A care perspective. Routledge.
I enjoyed reading your post. I agree that the first chapter in this book talks about the history of how the social work profession first developed. I find it very interesting that the first social worker in the health field was a nurse appointed by a doctor. I really enjoyed reading this chapter and look forward to learning more things about social work.
ReplyDelete