Social Work in Health Settings: Practice in Context

The most comprehensive book of its kind, Social Work in Health Settings presents a "practice in context" framework which is then applied in thirty-one casebook chapters, covering a great variety of health care settings from working with survivors of domestic violence through supporting people with HIV to services for military personnel.

Reflecting the enormous changes in policy, health care delivery, insurance systems, and the diagnosis and treatment of many conditions, this third edition features all new case chapters. Each chapter considers the impact of dimensions of context including policy, technology and organization on the client situation and then explores the key practice decisions that structure the helping relationship: the definition of the client; determining goals, objectives and contract; meeting place; use of time; strategies and interventions; stance of the social worker; use of resources outside of the social worker/client relationship; reassessment and evaluation; and transfer or termination.

This thought-provoking volume thoroughly integrates social work theory and practice, and provides an excellent opportunity for understanding particular techniques and interventions. In this era of managed care, downsizing, and moving away from hospital-based work, the approach taken in Social Work in Health Settings proves more salient than ever before.