Repositioning Social Work in the Modern Workforce: The Development of a Social Work Assistant Role

Abstract

This paper reports on a pilot project conducted at a Brisbane hospital to develop a social work assistant (SWA) role designed to support clinical social workers in an acute adult hospital setting. In the context of increasing workload demands, constricting health budgets, and organisational expectations, it details the development of the SWA role and outlines the increased scope and quality of practice afforded social workers through the new model of care. The paper demonstrates that the SWA model has positive outcomes for hospital social workers by allowing them to reclaim their core business in an increasingly bureaucratised and deprofessionalised work environment.

本文报道了布里斯班一处医院实施的导航计划，即在一急性病成人的医院环境中造就一种社工助理的角色以协助从事医疗的社工人员。本文在工作量增加、医疗预算收紧以及机构性要求的语境中，详细介绍了社工助理角色的形成，并简要讲述了新的看护模式如何扩大了社会工作的范围，提高了社会工作的质量。

Keywords:

• Model of Care
• Social Work Assistant
• Medical Social Work
• Delegation
• Professionalism
• Clinical Practice