ABSTRACT
This paper details an innovative Fellowship Program which provides intensive Post-Master's training in gerontological social work. The paper addresses the implications for social work education and practice for the growing number of elders in today's health care environment and in the future. The paper outlines the philosophy, design and implementation of the Program, suggesting ways in which a Fellowship can be modified for other settings. The authors discuss the evolution of the Program over six years, including funding challenges, overall benefits to such an undertaking, as well as future directions.
Subject(s)
Fellowships and Scholarships/organization & administration , Geriatrics/education , Health Services for the Aged , Social Work/education , Aged , Career Choice , Curriculum , Financial Support , Health Services Needs and Demand , Humans , Personnel Selection , United States , WorkforceSubject(s)
Hospital Administrators/standards , Leadership , Quality Assurance, Health Care/organization & administration , Social Work Department, Hospital/organization & administration , Boston , Forecasting , Hospitals, Teaching , Humans , Patient Care Team/organization & administration , Patient Care Team/trends , Quality Assurance, Health Care/trends , Social Work Department, Hospital/trendsABSTRACT
This paper presents the results of research on a program that trains family members to serve as case managers for their elderly relatives. The effectiveness of the training program was evaluated using a randomized experimental design. Data were collected in an urban hospital setting about two groups of elderly patients: those with dementia and those needing hemodialysis. Family members of both types of patients were assigned randomly to an experimental group, which received systematic training in performing case management activities, or to a control group, which received only the services ordinarily provided by the hospital social work department. Post-test comparisons revealed that the experimental group family members performed significantly more case management tasks on behalf of their elderly relatives than did family members in the control group. Although trained family members assumed more responsibility for case management, there was no increase in the level of their subjective or objective caregiving burden. Implications for social work practice are presented.
Subject(s)
Ambulatory Care/organization & administration , Caregivers/organization & administration , Patient Care Planning/organization & administration , Professional-Family Relations , Aged , Boston , Dementia/nursing , Female , Health Services Research , Humans , Male , Middle Aged , Outpatient Clinics, Hospital , Renal Dialysis/nursing , RoleABSTRACT
An intervention model has been developed which teaches family members, in partnership with social workers, to obtain and monitor services for their chronically ill elderly relatives. The research site is a Boston teaching hospital with a patient population that is ethnically and racially diverse. Initial results of the study reveal that case management is easily accepted by most families, and the partnership between the family member and social worker enhances the delivery of needed services.
Subject(s)
Chronic Disease , Family , Health Services for the Aged , Patient Care Team , Social Work , Aged , Humans , Patient Care Planning/methodsABSTRACT
Like other forms of family violence, abuse of the elderly is a long-standing problem that is a new focus of public interest. This description of the efforts of an acute-care hospital's interdisciplinary team to assess cases of elder abuse focuses on the role of the social worker and the dilemmas that arise when the problem of elder abuse is confronted by helping professionals.
Subject(s)
Elder Abuse , Patient Care Team , Social Work , Aged , Female , Hospitals , Humans , Male , Massachusetts , Nursing Homes , Object Attachment , Pressure Ulcer/etiology , Referral and ConsultationABSTRACT
Health Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) are a popular form of health care delivery in many parts of the United States. To what extent are social workers an integral part of this health care delivery system? The authors present the findings of a study that surveyed the role of social workers in HMOs and conclude that if social workers are to have a future in this system, they must advocate for themselves professionally and politically.
Subject(s)
Health Maintenance Organizations , Social Work/trends , Employment , United States , WorkforceABSTRACT
Early intervention programs are designed to provide detection, treatment, and prevention of handicaps, developmental delays, and environmental deprivation as early in a child's life as possible. Health care facilities, especially community health centers, are in a unique position to provide intervention services. The social work and nursing staffs of the Dimock Community Health Center in Roxbury, Massachusetts designed an early intervention program (P.E.C.S.--Parent Education and Child Stimulation) for high-risk families. The program addresses the effects of developmental delays and environmental deprivation prevalent in the birth to three-year-old population of the Center. This paper describes the organization and methodology of the program and indicates ways in which the program can be replicated.
