Evaluate the Social Worker’s Role in a Medical Setting to Improve Practice Effectiveness at the Micro, Mezzo and Macro Levels

Throughout your MSW program, you have been asked to select a topic and/or population of focus. This week, you will incorporate this focus into your Signature Assignment. For the Signature Assignment, you will evaluate the role of social work, in a medical setting, as it relates to your topic or population of focus. For example, if your focus is addiction, you may choose to examine the role of social work on inpatient psychiatric units and its involvement in addressing addiction.

Social workers understand that evaluation is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with, and on behalf of, diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations and communities. Social workers recognize the importance of evaluating processes and outcomes to advance practice, policy, and service delivery effectiveness. Social workers understand theories of human behavior and the social environment, and critically evaluate and apply this knowledge in evaluating outcomes. Regardless of the practice setting, social workers make ethical decisions by applying the standards of the NASW Code of Ethics, relevant laws and regulations, models for ethical decision-making, ethical conduct of research, and additional codes of ethics as appropriate to context.  Clearly identify your topic and/or population of focus and the specific medical setting in which social work would address this issue. Create a table of contents for your paper. Be sure to include the following:

Describe the key duties of the social worker in this setting and the assessment and intervention strategies most often utilized demonstrating that assessment is an ongoing component of the dynamic and interactive process of social work practice with, and on behalf of, diverse individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities.

Explain the impact of the medical model and the insurance industry on social work’s role in this setting.

Interpret the application of the appropriate NASW’s Standards of Practice (or any other standards).

Identify the key standards in the NASW Code of Ethics that would apply to this role and the value base of the profession and its ethical standards, as well as relevant laws and regulations that may impact practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels.

Discuss any state social work regulations or legislation that may apply.

Provide key resources that would be valuable to a social worker in this setting including their role in policy development and implementation within their practice settings at the micro, mezzo, and macro level and actively engaging in policy practice to effect change within those settings.

Because social workers value the importance of interprofessional teamwork and communication in interventions, recognizing that beneficial outcomes may require interdisciplinary, interprofessional, and inter-organizational collaboration, you must recommend strategies for effective collaboration with professionals from other disciplines.

Conclude with a brief review of prevention interventions and/or health behavior theory that is relevant for this setting to demonstrate how you might use and translate research evidence to inform and improve practice, policy, and service delivery.