Social work in health care
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Soc Work Health Care · Aug 2017
Psychosocial and environmental factors in the prognosis of individuals with chronic pain and comorbid mental health.
Chronic pain has considerable medical, social, and economic implications as its high prevalence rate and negative societal burden provides justification that it is a major health issue. The value of understanding psychological, social, and environmental factors in chronic pain has become widely recognized and accepted as a biopsychosocial phenomenon in which the social work perspective offers a valuable lens. ⋯ The social work profession will also be explored as playing a definite role in addressing elements pertaining to pain management depicted from these theories. Lastly, implications for research, policy, and practice will be reviewed to better understand the association between psychosocial and environmental influences of individuals with chronic pain and comorbid mental health issues.
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Soc Work Health Care · Jul 2017
Social workers' experiences as the family support person during cardiopulmonary resuscitation attempts.
During inhospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation attempts, a designated family support person (FSP) may provide guidance and support to family members. Research on nurses and chaplains in this role has been published. Social workers also regularly fulfill this service, however, little is known about how they perceive and enact this role. ⋯ Social workers perform a variety of tasks to promote family presence during resuscitation attempts and provide psychosocial support over the continuum of care. The FSP role impacts social workers emotionally and professionally. Implications for hospital policy, staffing, and clinical practice are discussed.
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Soc Work Health Care · Mar 2017
Near-death experiences, posttraumatic growth, and life satisfaction among burn survivors.
Survivors of large burns may face positive and negative psychological after-effects from close-to-death injuries. This study is the first to examine their near-death experiences (NDEs) and posttraumatic growth (PTG) and life satisfaction afterwards. With an available sample of 92 burn survivors, half met the criteria for an NDE using an objective scale. ⋯ There were no significant differences on life satisfaction, PTG, or NDEs when examined by gender or years since the burn injury. Elements of the NDE most frequently reported were: An altered sense of time, a sense of being out of the physical body, a feeling of peace, vivid sensations, and sense of being in an "other worldly" environment. Social workers and other health providers need to be comfortable helping burn survivors discuss any NDEs and process these through survivors' spirituality and religious belief systems as they recover.
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As ethical issues arise concerning the continuation of futile medical treatment for dying patients in Korean society, advance directive planning initiatives have been put into place to guide practice. This article describes the awareness and attitudes of social workers in Korea regarding advance care planning and related factors. ⋯ Social workers who emphasized self-determination as a professional value, professed a preference for hospice care, and who were comfortable discussing death were more likely to have a positive attitudes toward advance care planning. This study reinforces the need for the infusion of advance care planning and end-of-life training in social work education in Korea.
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Soc Work Health Care · May 2016
Development and validation of a diabetes self-management instrument for older African-Americans.
The objective of this study was to develop and validate a new diabetes self-management instrument for older African-Americans 65 years of age and older. The Self-Care Utility Geriatric African-American Rating (SUGAAR) was developed using the American Diabetes Association's standards for the management of type 2 diabetes in older adults and cognitive interviews with older African-Americans. ⋯ The instrument demonstrated content validity and significant, but modest, convergent validity with items from an established diabetes self-management instrument. Social workers and health care professionals can use the SUGARR to assess diabetes self-management and to identify areas for education and support for older African-Americans with type 2 diabetes.