1st Edition

International Perspectives on Social Work in Health Care Past, Present, and Future

By Gail K Auslander Copyright 1997

    In the new health care environment, social workers are being called upon to act as case managers, coordinators, evaluators, therapists, and researchers. International Perspectives on Social Work in Health Care brings together academics and practitioners to discuss what managed care, cost containment, corporatization, and pre-payment portend for social work’s survival. Its explanatory pages will help you understand the need for skills in networking, mediation, and advocacy, how to link communities and institutions, and how to conceptualize, quantify, and measure the outcomes of social work interventions.

    In an effort to transcend traditional organizational and intellectual boundaries, International Perspectives on Social Work in Health Care explores conflicts inherent to social work, the need for new theoretical and practice models, social work administration in changing health care organizations, and developments in health social work research. Seeking to unite policy and practice, this guidebook addresses key issues, trends, and innovations in social work, including:

    • services that enhance community health
    • the transformation of health care in the U.S. into a market commodity
    • a broader approach to health and health care to correct gender biases
    • lifestyle changes and health promotion
    • helping clients overcome patterns of denial, fear, and anger
    • individual casework vs. group/community practice
    • patterns of social work service provision in a rehabilitation hospital environment
    • the effects of heterosexism on health and mental health services to lesbian and gay clients

      International Perspectives on Social Work in Health Care acts as a forum for contributing authors and readers to exchange and gain information and learn from each others’experiences and expertise. This is the book to help social work academics, educators, and practitioners work together to meet the demands and challenges of the increasingly complex health care environment.

    Contents Introduction
    • I. Health Policy and Social Work
    • Introduction to Section I
    • The Role of Social Work in Improving Quality of Life in the Community
    • Social Work Roles in America’s Changing Health Care
    • Membership Theory, Rationalism, and the Claim to Adequacy in Health Services
    • Women’s Health in Israel: A Feminist Perspective
    • II. Social Work Practice Issues in Health
    • Introduction to Section II
    • The Challenge of Health Care Social Work with Gay Men and Lesbians
    • A Creative Approach to HIV/AIDS Programs for Adolescents
    • A Relational Perspective of Women Coping with Cancer: A Preliminary Study
    • End-of-Life Decisions in the Home Care Setting
    • Social Support in Bereavement Crisis--A Study of Interaction in Crisis Situations
    • III. Developments in Health Social Work Research
    • Introduction to Section III
    • The Role of Research in Health and Mental Health Social Work
    • Practice and Research: An Integrated Model for the Education of Social Work Interns
    • A Service Mapping Approach to the Analysis of Service Use for People with Acquired Brain Injury
    • Clarity of Purpose and Administrative Accountability: An Empirical Study in Long-Term Residential Care
    • IV. Social Work Administration in Changing Health Care Organizations
    • Introduction to Section IV
    • Hospital Social Work and Community Care: The Practitioner’s View
    • Career Outcomes Among Medical vs. Family Service Social Workers in Israel
    • Creating Roles for Social Work in Changing Health Care Organizations: Organizational Development Perspective
    • Index
    • Reference Notes Included

    Biography

    Auslander, Gail K