Social work in health care
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Soc Work Health Care · Jan 2013
Future trends in health and health care: implications for social work practice in an aging society.
Major economic, political, demographic, social, and operational system factors are prompting evolutionary changes in health care delivery. Of particular significance, the "graying of America" promises new challenges and opportunities for health care social work. ⋯ This article identifies the aging shift in American demography, its impact on health policy legislation, factors influencing fundamentally new service delivery paradigms, and opportunities of the profession to address the health disparities and care needs of an aging population. It underscores the importance of social work inclusion in integrated health care delivery and offers recommendations for practice education.
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Soc Work Health Care · Jan 2012
Historical ArticleThe challenges of health care reform for hospital social work in the United States.
This article examines the potential impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010 on the practice of hospital social work in the United States and its implications for social work education and training. It briefly traces the history of hospital social work, outlines some contemporary issues in the health care field, particularly those that create persistent health disparities, summarizes the major provisions of the Act that have implications for social work practice, and discusses how social workers in hospital settings might respond effectively to the changes produced by the legislation.
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Soc Work Health Care · Jan 2012
Review Meta AnalysisReproductive attitudes and behaviors in people with sickle cell disease or sickle cell trait: a qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis.
Sickle cell disease (SCD) is a serious and life threatening disorder. The literature on informed reproductive decisions among people with SCD is limited, suggesting that there is a lack of awareness about SCD and Sickle cell trait status (SCT) among high-risk populations. The purpose of this qualitative interpretive meta-synthesis (QIMS) is to examine the reproductive attitudes and behaviors in people with SCD or SCT to create effective genetic counseling programs to inform reproductive decision making. ⋯ Other demographic characteristics of the study populations and data collection methods used in these studies varied. Seven themes on reproductive attitudes and behaviors among people with SCD or SCT emerged: lack of awareness or education about SCD and SCT; men who deny having SCT; attitudes toward learning one's SCT status; rationales for learning a partner's SCT status prior to commencing a relationship; valuing relationships over SCD risk; learning one's own and partner's SCT status; and the consequences of not asking about partners' SCT status. Implications for prevention programming involving improved education and awareness about the disease and reproduction are discussed.
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Soc Work Health Care · Jan 2012
"I didn't know I could turn colors": Health problems and health care experiences of women strangled by an intimate partner.
Strangulation is a unique and particularly pernicious form of intimate partner violence. To increase the relatively little that is known about strangulation survivors, focus groups and interviews were conducted as part of a practice-research engagement with a domestic violence shelter. All of the participants had been strangled and, among them, almost all were strangled multiple times. ⋯ Few sought medical care. Of those who did, few disclosed the assault, or were asked about strangulation, which commonly resulted in misdirected treatment. Implications for improving detection and treatment are discussed.
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Soc Work Health Care · Jan 2012
Deployment cycle stressors and post-traumatic stress symptoms in Army National Guard women: the mediating effect of resilience.
This study examined the associations between deployment cycle stressors, post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and resilience in Army National Guard (ARNG) women deployed to Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Resilience was also tested as a mediator. ⋯ Resilience fully mediated the association between post-deployment stressors and PTSS. Findings suggest assessing deployment and post-deployment stressors in ARNG women may be helpful in identifying those at risk for severe PTSS; and highlight the potential of individual-level resilient characteristics in mitigating the adverse impact of post-deployment stressors.