Social Workers play a huge role in Public Health. Public Health Social Workers
focus on prevention and identify children, adults, families, and communities with needs; and provide intervention services to help these clients discover ways of meeting their needs and preventing future problems
.
The improved communication about the patient among social work, therapists, nurses, doctors and others in the patient’s care team
creates a wholistic approach to care and improves their health and wellbeing
.
Through ‘personal’ patterns of knowing, in the form of reflection, social workers can develop knowledge of themselves and situations. Through such knowledge,
the social worker can establish authentic and therapeutic relationships with service users resulting in improved outcomes
(Chinn & Kramer, 2015).
Thus, social work–driven interventions—social workers facilitating access to multidisciplinary care and interventions—may potentially
reduce readmission rates and medical service use, as well as facilitate linkage to community-based social services to increase the quality of transitional care
.
Thankfully, health care services are making an effort to function at its best and help people survive longer than expected. On the other hand, social care services get to deal with challenging issues because of the lack of agreement between personal and public responsibilities.
What do you know about public health?
Public health is
the science of protecting and improving the health of people and their communities
. This work is achieved by promoting healthy lifestyles, researching disease and injury prevention, and detecting, preventing and responding to infectious diseases.
Health social workers
provide psychosocial support to individuals, families, and communities that are faced with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses, such as cancer, epilepsy, or AIDS
. They are also active in efforts to prevent illnesses.
The primary mission of the social work profession is
to enhance human well-being and help meet basic and complex needs of all people
, with a particular focus on those who are vulnerable, oppressed, and living in poverty.
The 10 lessons I’ve learned (and continue to learn) in social work are: Problems can come from anywhere—but so can solutions! Be observant and curious. Honor others: your clients, their support systems, the multi-disciplinary team, and the larger network of resources—and let your behavior communicate your respect.
- Service.
- Social justice.
- Dignity and worth of the person.
- Importance of human relationships.
- Integrity.
- Competence.
Social workers may go about their advocacy work by
lobbying elected officials, working within their agencies to make a change, or by building coalitions around particular issues in the community
. Professional social workers empower communities to advocate for change, and they also do some of the work themselves.
Social workers’ roles have grown to include crisis management as well as roles of empowerment and advocacy. Social workers can empower communities by
encouraging individuals to take an active role in shaping social services, providing education programs and enabling economic independence long-term
.
Social workers can also engage in policy practice aimed at initiating new legislation or amend the existing legislation by
lobbying with communities and politicians
.
The difference between social work and social care
Social care often involves more direct contact with people than social work
. However, there is a growing interest in relationship-based social work which emphasises the importance of the relationship social workers have with the people they are working with.
A healthcare need is related to the treatment, control or prevention of a disease, illness, injury or disability, and the care or aftercare of a person with these needs. A social care need is focused on providing assistance with: the activities of daily living.
Health and social care is
the treatment of ill health and medical conditions in hospitals, health centres and in the community
. Social care is the care and support of vulnerable people, usually in the community.
What is public health practice?
DEFINING PUBLIC HEALTH PRACTICE
The purpose of public health practice is
to prevent disease or injury and to improve the health of communities through such activities as disease surveillance, program evaluation, and outbreak investigation
.
What are the benefits of public health?
Public Health is important due to
aiding and prolonging life
. Through the prevention of health issues, individuals can spend more of their years in good health. 4. Public Health helps detect health issues as early as possible and responds appropriately to avoid the development of disease.
How does public health impact your daily life?
Public health protects and improves communities by preventing epidemics and the spread of disease; promoting healthy lifestyles for children and families; protecting against hazards in homes, work, communities and the environment; ensuring high-quality health-care services; safeguarding and improving the quality of the …
Social Health is a term that refers to
the ways in which people create healthy and positive interpersonal relationships with one another
. Having good social health helps people improve their emotional wellbeing and feel supported in their daily lives.
| Communicate and Engage Communicate and engage with organisations and people within communities to promote opportunities for children, adults, families and groups at risk or in need to function, participate and develop in society. | Work in Organisations Contribute to the work of organisations. |
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Social work is a dynamic and unique helping profession rich with meaning, action, and the power to make a difference for individuals, families, groups and communities. The primary goal of social work is
to improve a society’s overall well-being, especially for the most vulnerable populations
.
Social work is
a practice-based profession that promotes social change, development, cohesion and the empowerment of people and communities
. Social work practice involves the understanding of human development, behavior and the social, economic and cultural institutions and interactions.
