Medical Social Work Dr Muhammad Ibrar 10222021 1
Medical Social Work Dr. Muhammad Ibrar 10/22/2021 1
History of Medical Social Work The main setting for medical social work is the hospital. Dr. Richard C. Cabot first introduced medical social work in Boston in 1905. He and other recognized the need to understand more about social factors related to illness and its treatment and to utilize social and community resources in comprehensive patient care. 10/22/2021 2
…Contd. The introduction of social workers into hospital and other medical settings has been slow but steady, so today many hospitals have professional social workers on their staff. Of the 5, 000 hospitals reporting to the American Hospital Association in 1995, 75% indicated having social workers in their staff. 10/22/2021 3
IDA M. CANNON: FOUNDER OF MEDICAL SOCIAL WORK 1877 -1960 Ida Cannon was responsible for establishing the first social work department in a hospital in the United States. Convinced that medical practice could not be effective without examining the link between illness and the social conditions of the patient, Cannon thoroughly worked at creating the field of medical social work. During her long career, she worked as a nurse, a student of sociology, a medical social worker. 10/22/2021 4
…Contd. She was born in Milwaukee, the third of four children of Colbert Cannon, an official of the Great Northern Railroad and his wife, Wilma, who died when Ida was four. She attended St. Paul High School before beginning her nursing education at the City and County Hospital in St. Paul. After working as a nurse for two years, she began studies in sociology at the University of Minnesota. It was there that Cannon heard a lecture given by Jane Addams about the living conditions of the poor that would change her life. 10/22/2021 5
…Contd. Realizing the need for an education in social work to add to her training and experience as a nurse, Cannon enrolled in the Boston (Simmons) School of Social Work. Needing a place to stay during her studies, she moved into the Cambridge household of her brother, Walter Cannon, and his family. It was a home in which she would remain for the rest of her life, greatly enjoying her relationships with her brother, his wife and their children. 10/22/2021 6
…Contd. Walter Cannon may have been his sister's original inspiration to study medicine. He had attended Harvard Medical School when Ida was a child and went on to become a worldrenowned physiologist. It was through her brother, Walter, that Cannon met Richard Clark Cabot, who was developing a program in hospital social services at Boston General Hospital. This was to be the first organized social work department in a hospital in United States history. 10/22/2021 7
…Contd. Medical social workers in Britain and Ireland were previously known as Almoners, or Hospital Almoners. In Ireland, the origins of medical social workers go back to Dr. Ella Webb, who, in 1918, established a dispensary for sick children in the Adelaide Hospital in Dublin, and to Winifred Alcock, who trained as an Almoner and worked with Dr. Webb in her dispensary. 10/22/2021 8
…Contd. In 1945, the Institute of Almoners in Britain was formed, which, in 1964, was renamed as the Institute of Medical Social Workers. The Institute was one of the founder organizations of the British Association of Social Workers, which was formed in 1970. In Britain, medical social workers were transferred from the National Health Service (NHS) into local authority Social Services Departments in 1974, and generally became known as hospital social workers. 10/22/2021 9
Definition of Medical Social Work It is evident that the psycho-social aspect is essential for the treatment of a patient. The role played by the social worker in the field of medical treatment , is known as medical social work. According to NASW, “Medical social work is the application and adoption of method and philosophy of social work in the field of health and medical care. 10/22/2021 10
…Contd. Medical social work makes selected and extended use of those aspects of social work knowledge and methods which are particularly relevant to helping persons who have health and medical problems. ” 10/22/2021 11
Nature of Medical Social Work Medical social work is based upon well defined principles of social work. Its objective is to help patient in developing an understanding of his needs and to motivate him to use his capacities towards a satisfactory solution of his problem, using the strength within his personality and if necessary, the facilities and resources provided by the community. 10/22/2021 12
…Contd. The help which a sick person requires depends upon a number of factors-the social setting, the resources available and the nature of readjustment or rehabilitation needed for him after recovery from illness. A physician’s primary professional concern is with patient’s physical functioning and restoration of it. A medical social worker, on the other hand, is interested in the personality of patient and in factors in his social environment which affect his illness and rehabilitation. 10/22/2021 13
…Contd. A social worker, therefore, attempts to understand the needs and circumstances of patient with a view to finding out their impact on his illness. Through this understanding and through the application of social case work principles and techniques, he aims to help the patient utilize, to the fullest capacity, the medical care available to him and work out a pattern of life that is reliable with his physical limitation and at the same time satisfying to him. 10/22/2021 14
…Contd. The medical social worker, through interview with the patient and with his family, friends and neighbors tries to get a clear picture of patient and his psycho-social environment in order to assess, in consultation with patient and attending physician, the nature and extent of help patient needs for his treatment and rehabilitation. 10/22/2021 15
…Contd. Medical social work does not regard cure as the sole objective of medical care; prevention and rehabilitation are also important. Cure of disease is only one aspect of the process of patient’s recovery. If the patient is not properly rehabilitated after recovery, he may become a victim of many undesirable situations. However, every patient does not require rehabilitation, it is only necessary for those persons whose treatment does not fully restore physical or mental capacity. 10/22/2021 16
The Role of Medical Social Worker Medical social work is a recent branch of social work which deals with social, physical and psychological processes of a patient. Therefore, the role of a medical social worker is to supervise the arrangements made for the treatment of patients and also take proper steps for their rehabilitation and social adjustment. Most specifically, a medical social worker helps patients: Ø By interpreting their meaning of illness and disease. Ø By giving information and facts about the disease and thereby removing any misconception they may have about the disease and its effects. 10/22/2021 17
…Contd. Ø By giving an emotional support to overcome their emotional tensions caused by worries and anxieties about disease, family and other matters. Ø By making them understand accept the situation through needed adjustment. Ø By securing material resources of the community for the maintenance of their families during their illness and for their rehabilitation after recovery. 10/22/2021 18
…Contd. By preparing their families to accept him by making necessary adjustments. Ø By giving needed information to their families regarding their care. Ø By giving necessary health guidance, knowledge about sanitation, health care etc. during home visits or discussions with family and neighbors. Ø By providing needed facilities and guidance to drug addicts during their treatment in hospitals or as out-door patient. Ø 10/22/2021 19
Progress in Pakistan Medical social work in Pakistan is still in infancy. A number of hospital and organizations are practicing Medical Social Work. Almost all the university departments of social work are offering training in medical social work. It was in 1953, that a training programme in medical social work was introduced in Karachi under the joint auspices of the govt. of Pakistan and UN. 10/22/2021 20
…Contd. At present there is no separate arrangements of training for medical social workers. They are trained in the university departments of university. There about 90 medical social works units in Punjab, 29 in Sindh, 1 in Baluchistan and 4 in KP. A medical social worker, though appointed and controlled by the Directorate of Social Welfare in and agency-setting whose policy and administration are determined by the Health Directorate. 10/22/2021 21
…Contd. It is therefore, essential for him to have a warm relationship with the physician and the hospital authority. This cooperation understanding with the physician is also necessary for avoiding the possibility of misunderstanding about each other’s role. Ideally, the physician refers a case to the medical social worker who, in consultation with the patient and physician helps the patient overcome his psycho-social problems so that he can use effectively the medical treatment offered in the hospital. 10/22/2021 22
7 th five-year plan During the 7 th five year plan (1988 -93), medical -social work units were established in some selected district hospitals to provide social care and after recovery services to the needy and to the poor patients in order to reduce hospitals expenses, prevent the spread of disease. Zakat assistance is given to deserving patients through formation of patients welfare societies under the auspices of medical-social work units. 10/22/2021 23
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