The place of early social assessment in the management of surgical patients

Abstract

Twenty-four percent of bed-days were occupied by patients whose discharge from hospital was delayed for social or geriatric reasons in a bed-usage survey carried out on surgical patients during a three-month period of 1973. By early social assessment with the regular help of a medical social worker it was possible to reduce such delays to 16% in a similar study during the same period of 1974. The at-risk patients were the elderly admitted as an emergency and the present policy contributed particularly to the overall care of this group.

Predicting Length of Stay in an Acute Care Hospital

“…Several studies have demonstrated that early social work screening and intervention in hospitals has led to a reduction in length of stay (Bates et al, 1976;Berkman et al, 1988;Boone et al, 1981;Critelli & Black, 1993;Evans et al, 1989;Holden, 1989). This research has contributed to the development of high risk screening by social workers as an important procedure in hospitals.…”