Medical Social Work

The profession of social work has, since its inception, stressed the importance of the family system in practice and policy development. Even though the family has always been central to effective social work practice, the framing of the family system from a holistic health perspective is new to the field. This collection develops a family health perspective that will facilitate effective social work practice and policy development.

The possibility of treating patients with organ replacement therapy has created a new frontier in medical care. Hospitals have to deal with such vital issues as selecting potential recipients of transplants, ensuring equity in allocating organs, pre- and peri-transplantation care of patients, and post-transplantation follow-up of organ recipients. The decisions pertaining to these issues often fall to social workers, who, with their bifocal concern for individuals and society, have significant contributions to make. Here, Dhooper reviews the contributions of the few social workers in this field and suggests ways of improving their work, consolidating their professional gains, and maximizing their impact. Dhooper discusses all aspects of organ transplantation, and explores and proposes new social work roles and appropriate skills for involvement at the individual, organizational, and community levels. He deals with the larger moral, societal, economic, and technical issues, as well as the here-and-now concerns of the social worker. Recommended for social workers trained for practice in the 1990s and beyond, and particularly those specializing in health and mental health social work.

An understanding of the most important laws and ethical issues that have shaped the profession is essential for the effective practice of social work. Thus this comprehensive approach to health and mental health care for social workers centers on ethical and legal issues. The book includes critical information regarding the systems and organizations in which social workers practice; the nature of the relationship between social workers and clients/consumers/communities; planning, contracting, and strategizing functions; intervention techniques using advocacy, brief work, case management, and group work; and evaluation. Armed with this knowledge, social workers have the ability to intervene as advocates as well as to evaluate their work and their clients' progress.