Evidence that Supports the Value of Social Work in Hospitals

Abstract

The value of hospital social work is supported by one hospital's tracking system that monitored social work discharge services and compared outcome with non-social work discharges. The sample consisted of a total of 64,722 patients admitted to the "med-surg" hospital unit over a two and one-half year time period from 2002 to 2004. Of the total patients in the sample, 15.7% (n = 10,156) had social work involvement. Sixty percent of the social worker patients were age 70 or over compared with the mean age of the sample of 56.2 years. The mean length of stay for social work served patients was 11.4 days (sd = 13.9) compared to 4.3 days (sd = 6.3) non-social work patients, a difference that was significant (t =-68.3; p = .000). The authors attribute the longer lengths of stay to social workers' receiving older and more difficult-to-place patients. An evidence-based case is made for the cost-containment value of social workers in hospitals and for the creation of a tracking infrastructure to aid in monitoring the daily achievements of medical/surgical social workers.

Managed Care and Changes in Health Care Delivery in the United States: Implications for Social Work Practice in Health Care Settings

“…Many times, the contribution of social workers in hospitals becomes unclear and remains unnoticed as it mixes with other disciplines that are also involved in the discharge planning process. According to Auerbach, Mason, and Laporte (2008), social workers in the acute care, settings deal with the most complex cases needing placement with multiple medical and social needs at discharge. The authors suggested that social workers are the paramount providers of patient assessment and are important coordinators of multiple patient needs at discharge.…”

“…Furthermore, the authors suggested implementing tracking systems in hospitals to record empirical data in order to create accountability and gather feedback on social work practice in hospitals. Social work interventions in acute care settings are mostly related with multifaceted psychosocial needs of patients resulting in cost-effective health care delivery ( Auerbach & Mason, 2010;Auerbach, Mason, & Laporte, 2008). Cesta (2012) reiterated the importance of the social work practice in acute care settings, to be based on the best practices, while coordinating with other disciplines (Cesta, 2012).…”

Pity or pedestal?: perceptions and practices of chronic disease and disability in hospital social work

“…As Judd and Sheffield (20 1 0) point out, increased competition between nurses and social workers for scarce jobs continues to be a concern. Auerbach, Mason, and Laporte (2007) argue that nurses may be viewed by administrators as "more cooperative than social workers in facilitating speedy discharges" (p.…”

“…Services provided by social workers may be viewed as secondary activities in the hospital setting (Siefert, 1989), or nonessential when costs need to be cut (Auerbach et al , 2007). However, Egan and Kadushin (1995) found that social workers felt they were "better qualified than nurses to assess and intervene in social and emotional problems" (p. 3), while discharge planning is generally seen to be a social work responsibility.…”

“…Sulman, Savage, and Way (2002) argue that social workers frequently confront the challenge of meeting both organizational needs for cost reduction and patient care needs. Auerbach et al (2007) point out that "the question of who is the client may be unduly influenced by the need to remain employed" (p. 21 ), a fact that can put a lot of strain on workers. Abramson (1981) points out that because the hospital social worker or other professional determines if the patient is competent to make his or her own decisions, the potential is there for workers to act paternalistically even when they have the best of intentions.…”