The Role and Potential of Social Worker Involvement in Hospital Emergency Departments: A Practice-Based Scoping Review

Abstract

Background: Social worker input into hospital emergency department (ED) services would appear to be central to the provision of effective, durable and comprehensive services. Unfortunately, there are few literature overviews to summarise this potential. Methods:A practice-based scoping review was conducted to identify the role and potential of social worker involvement in emergency department settings. After initial screening, abstracts of 252 articles were read and screened, resulting in 37 articles, which were reviewed and thematically analysed by pairs of reviewers, and also appraised for quality and relevance. Results:Three key practice areas of social work involvement in emergency departments were identified: mental health, suicide risk and crisis, and chronic disease. Details of social work involvement in each key practice area as noted in the literature were outlined. Beyond this, two priority focus areas were also noted: social work screening and assessment in ED, and developing a social work model that is relevant to ED. Conclusion:The identified key practice areas and priority focus areas provide a useful guide for practitioners (to more clearly define their assistance and interventions in ED), and for managers and academics (to more clearly guide the development of social work policy, practice and staffing models in ED settings).

The Clarity and Contribution of the Hospital Social Work Role: Observations on its Professional Identity

“…For example, an English study suggested older people valued help negotiating the demands of attending hospital and would like help with accessing social services (McLeod, Bywaters, and Cooke 2003) which might be suggestive of a rights-based approach. In the same way, there is an extensive international literature on the role of social workers in Emergency Departments (Bell et al 2018) yet the UK literature here is now mainly extremely dated. The power of hospital social work might therefore lie in its system knowledge and influence rather than its challenge or advocacy.…”

The Role of Social Work for Emergency Medical Services (EMS): A Systematic Review

“…At the pre-EMS stage, social workers act as cultural liaisons; 19 during the emergency, they act as crisis intervention with family and patients; 20 and the post-EMS services carried out by social workers include avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations, critical illness, and follow up. 21 This study aimed to synthesize the role of social work at three stages (pre-EMS, during emergency, and post-EMS emergency periods) globally. The role of social work for EMS is a well-known service all over the world, but the practice system is diverse, and community people are still unaware of the professional services of the social worker in EMS.…”

“…At the pre-EMS stage, social workers act as cultural liaisons; 19 during the emergency, they act as crisis intervention with family and patients; 20 and the post-EMS services carried out by social workers include avoiding unnecessary hospitalizations, critical illness, and follow up. 21 …”