Social work in health care
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Soc Work Health Care · Jan 2011
Practical considerations for addressing substance use disorders in veterans and service members.
Support and treatment for military veterans and active duty service members is a national priority. Furthermore, there is increased need for professionals with experience and interest in working with these brave individuals. Veterans and service members face significant challenges both during their service and after transitioning back to civilian settings. ⋯ It also reviews practical information about assessment, treatment, and general clinical issues from the authors' clinical experience that is relevant to providers working with veterans and service members with substance use disorders. This information may be of particular interest to professionals with an interest in helping veterans, those who have limited experience working with veterans, or those who may work outside of standard military or Department of Veterans Affairs settings. Finally, future directions in this important area are discussed.
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Soc Work Health Care · Jan 2011
ReviewThe role of the social worker in the adult critical care unit: a systematic review of the literature.
Social workers provide care to patients and families in the adult critical care unit. We conducted a systematic review of the literature to more clearly identify the role of the social worker practicing in the intensive care unit. We conducted a comprehensive search of the literature using the Pubmed, Embase, ISI, Scopus, and Social Work Abstracts databases using the terms "intensive care," "critical care," and "social work." Articles were selected for review if they met the following criteria: formal studies or opinion papers whose primary focus was the role or scope of practice of the social worker in the adult critical care unit. ⋯ There is little empiric data describing the role of the critical care social worker. Consistent themes from the articles identified include the role of social workers as counseling professionals, facilitators of communication, and resource agents. Further research to identify formal assessment tools and outcome studies of specific counseling techniques will provide important information for best practice guidelines in this area.
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Soc Work Health Care · Jan 2011
What's in a story? A text analysis of burn survivors' web-posted narratives.
Story-telling has been found to be beneficial following trauma, suggesting a potential intervention for burn survivors who frequently make use of? telling their story? as part of their recovery. This study is the first to examine the word content of burn survivors' Web-posted narratives to explore their perceptions of the event, supportive resources, their post-burn well-being, and re-integration using a comparison group and a text data analysis software developed by the widely recognized James Pennebaker. Suggestions for using expressive writing or story-telling as a guided psychosocial intervention with burn survivors are made.
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Traumatic brain injury (TBI)-an injury to the brain that may or may not create lasting impairment for the survivor-has been recognized as a major public health problem by the Centers for Disease Control ( Langlois, Rutland-Brown, & Thomas, 2006 ). Ongoing conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan have highlighted the problem for the military ( Warden, 2006 ). ⋯ As those with TBI transition to their home locality, civilian social workers and other providers will be involved in their care. This article examines the medical and emotional implications of mild TBI and offers suggestions for care of those affected, both the service member and his/her family.
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Soc Work Health Care · Jan 2011
Reciprocal influences between burnout and effectiveness in professional care for elders.
In community care, the quality of life of the care recipient and the quality of the care provider affect each other. This is a proposition derived from the dialectical perspective, which envisions the importance of promoting the quality of life of both the care recipient and provider. The proposition hinges on mediation by caring effectiveness. ⋯ The results reinforce the mediation model by showing that caring effectiveness mediates the impact of the earlier burnout of the professional care provider on the subsequent psychological well-being of the care recipient. In turn, the earlier psychological well-being and functional disability of the care recipient also affect the burnout of the professional care provider. The results support the dialectical perspective.