Communicating With Pediatricians: Developing Social Work Practice in Primary Care

Abstract

While social work models of interdisciplinary collaboration suggest that communication is important, the research literature on social worker–physician collaboration infrequently considers work with pediatricians or practice outside the hospital setting. A cross-sectional survey was sent to a stratified random sample of social workers to assess their communication satisfaction with pediatricians. The study found that social workers in health settings were more satisfied than those in mental health settings. The implications of this finding for the development of colocated, collaborative care models are discussed.

Keywords:

• integrated behavioral health
• primary care
• communication
• social work

Acknowledgments

This project was supported by grant number R36HS017749-01 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In addition, this research was sponsored by a fellowship from the UCLA Graduate Division. The authors thank Rosina Becerra, Alice Kuo, Duncan Lindsey, Rashmita Mistry, Bonnie Zima, Neal Halfon, and the UCLA Center for Healthier Children, Families, and Communities, as well as Grace Park for comments on earlier drafts of this article. In addition, the authors express their appreciation of the survey respondents in this study.