An Exploratory Survey of Mental Health Social Work in Europe

Abstract

This article reports on an exploratory study comparing mental health social work (MHSW) in Europe. There has been very limited previous research comparing approaches to MHSW in Europe and so the aim of the study was to develop a better understanding of the similarities and differences between and, where relevant, within countries (referred to as jurisdictions). An online survey was distributed mainly through existing European networks and social media to seek information on the role, nature, extent and context of MHSW in a range of European jurisdictions. Conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, there were 158 responses from 10 jurisdictions. Data were analyzed using thematic analysis. From this analysis, four main themes were identified, relating to: role; law, policy and education; the distinctive contribution made by MHSW; and the key challenges for MHSW. The study demonstrates that MHSW, although it is described and provided in different ways and is confined by a range of factors, plays an important role in mental health services across jurisdictions. There are also interesting differences between contexts, especially in the balance of therapeutic, legal and specialist/generic approaches, some of which reflect the World Health Organisation’s vision and objectives for mental health. Lastly, the study illustrates a need and provides a valuable basis for further comparative and collaborative work to define MHSW and enhance the contributions it makes.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and Social Work: Evidence for Impact?

“…This reflects a wider context for social work as an under-researched subject area and the need to build research capacity to find out more about what social workers actually do on the ground and the influences that shape their practice [47]. How the mental health social work role is defined and understood in different jurisdictions is particularly under-researched [48]. With this in mind, the authors are cognisant that mental health social workers, and social workers more broadly, might be developing practice approaches that would fit with the CRPD's principles but are hidden from the literature.…”

The Professional Identity of Social Workers in Mental Health Services: A Scoping Review

“…Stone et al's [52] Europe-wide study valuably illustrates that statutory duties are not a universal aspect of mental health social work, providing a contextualizing balance to the dominance of formal legal imperatives in the British studies. Nonetheless, even in national contexts that do not have specific statutory roles that can be fulfiled by social workers, Stone et al [52] found that practice is influenced by broader statutory and rights-based contexts, such as in foregrounding human rights in mental health services.…”

“…In a British context, both AMHP and non-AMHP social workers identified organizational dysfunctions, such as a lack of preventative services and late referrals for support, as limiting the fulfilment of social work skills and values in practice [35,41,44,[52][53][54]. There was evidence in the English context of the integration of social workers into NHS mental health teams, often through secondment from Local Authorities, as enabling social work leadership in promoting social considerations of mental health needs [33].…”

“…This often aligned with a numerical marginalization within teams and, at times, being 'bottom of the hierarchy' [32], with social workers struggling to challenge misconceptions about their role as holding a 'single issue' focus on matters such as housing [49,55]. The professional impotence resulting from dismissals of social approaches has resonance with mental health social worker experiences across Europe, with Stone et al [52] noting, despite some evidence of increasingly integrated service perspectives, the continuing dominance of medical opinion and professionals in mental health teams.…”

Impact of Socioeconomic Environment on Home Social Care Service Demand and Dependent Users

“…Data analysis on health and social care systems has proven to be a useful tool for assessment and gaining new insights into administrative decision-making [ 15 , 16 , 17 ]. In this branch of study, descriptive methods can help to identify population sets (i.e., elderly or disabled population) and determine which social characteristics influence their need for public services such as home-based social care [ 18 ].…”