Hospital social worker Health Dictionary

Hospital Social Worker: From 1 Different Sources


a social worker employed to assist hospital patients with social problems that may arise through illness. See also social services.
Health Source: Oxford | Concise Colour Medical Dictionary
Author: Jonathan Law, Elizabeth Martin

Hospital

An institution the primary function of which is to provide inpatient diagnostic and therapeutic services for a variety of medical conditions, both surgical and nonsurgical. Most hospitals provide some outpatient services, particularly emergency care.... hospital

Day Hospital

A facility, which may be attached to an acute hospital, geriatric centre or nursing home, providing non-residential care, such as medical care, nursing care, physiotherapy, occupational therapy, podiatry, speech therapy and counselling services, usually during the day.... day hospital

Social Medicine

See PUBLIC HEALTH.... social medicine

Social Services

Services provided by government to improve the social welfare of those who need them.... social services

Auxiliary Worker

A worker who has less than full professional qualifications in a particular field and is supervised by a professional worker.... auxiliary worker

Avoidable Hospital Condition / Admission

A medical condition for which hospitalization could have been avoided if ambulatory care had been provided in a timely and efficient manner.... avoidable hospital condition / admission

Chronic Hospital

A facility that serves patients who do not need acute care or care in another kind of specialty hospital and whose needs for frequency of monitoring by a medical practitioner and for frequency and duration of nursing care exceed the requirements for care in a comprehensive care or extended care facility.... chronic hospital

Community Health Worker

A trained health worker who works with other health and development workers as a team. The community health worker provides the first contact between the individual and the health system. The types of community health worker vary between countries and communities according to their needs and the resources available to meet them. In many societies, these workers come from and are chosen by the community in which they work. In some countries they work as volunteers; normally those who work part-time or full-time are rewarded, in cash or in kind, by the community and the formal health services.... community health worker

General Hospital

A hospital providing a variety of services, including medicine and surgery, to meet the general medical needs of the community it serves.... general hospital

Health-promoting Hospital

A hospital which, not only provides high quality comprehensive medical and nursing services, but also develops a corporate identity that embraces the aims of health promotion; develops a health-promoting organizational structure and culture, including active, participatory roles for patients and all members of staff; develops itself into a health-promoting physical environment; and actively cooperates with its community.... health-promoting hospital

Home-from-hospital / Hospital After-care Schemes

Schemes providing nursing care, personal care or practical help for older people who have returned home after a stay in hospital.... home-from-hospital / hospital after-care schemes

Hospital Chaplaincy

A service provided by a religious denomination, primarily aimed at meeting the spiritual and religious needs of patients in hospitals. In the UK, NHS hospital trusts employ both full-time and part-time chaplains, usually representing the mainline Christian churches (Anglican, Free and Roman Catholic). Their duties vary but always at the least involve meeting the speci?cally religious needs of patients as well as of relatives and sta? who may ask for help. Public services in chapels, the bedside administration of the Word and Sacraments, and prayers and radio services are among chaplains’ duties. When requested by patients, chaplains also liaise with representatives of other world faiths.

Chaplains have a broad responsibility for the spiritual health care of all in hospital. They share this with other sta? members, particularly the nursing sta?, for whom the chaplains can be a resource. Chaplains also train and use volunteers from local churches to help with ward visiting and other chaplaincy duties. Much of the time spent with patients takes the form of a listening ministry, helping patients to ?nd their own answers to what is happening to them in hospital and in life generally. Spiritual health can be seen as a quest for the right relationships in four areas – with other people; with oneself; with the world around; and with ‘Life’ itself. The religious person subsumes all that in his/ her relationship to God.

The link between spiritual disease and physical ill-health is well established; the chaplain therefore helps a hospital to provide a HOLISTIC approach to health care. Chaplains also give time to the care of sta? who face increasing levels of stress at work, making use of support groups, counselling, meditation, etc. Chaplains support patients’ relatives facing a crisis, for example, by being with them over the period of a death, and by providing regular bereavement services for those who have lost babies. Some chaplains have a particular expertise in ETHICS and are members of the various hospital ethics committees. A chaplain may have a ‘nonmanagement’ view of the health of the hospital itself, which can be of use to hospital management. (See also SPIRITUAL PAIN.)... hospital chaplaincy

Hospital Discharge Scheme

A scheme which ensures a smooth transition from hospital to home.... hospital discharge scheme

Hospital-acquired Infection

An infection acquired by a patient while in hospital. Because of the high level of antibiotic use in hospitals, some bacteria become resistant

– for example, METHICILLIN-RESISTANT STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS (MRSA). This makes hospital-acquired infections potentially dangerous and sometimes life-threatening, and is one of the developments that is prompting calls for greater care in the prescribing of antibiotics as well as higher standards of cleanliness.... hospital-acquired infection

Hospital-at-home Scheme

Home-based specialist medical care used to shorten hospital stays or prevent hospital admission.... hospital-at-home scheme

Key Worker

A person with defined responsibility towards a specific service user, usually with responsibility for service provision and the monitoring of care. Usually the first point of contact for an individual.... key worker

Psychological And Social Problems

Any previously existing mental-health problems may worsen under the stress of pregnancy and childbirth, and a woman’s socio-economic circumstances may be an in?uential factor. Mood swings are common in pregnant women and mothers of new babies; sympathetic support from sta? and relations will usually remedy the situation. If postnatal depression lasts for more than a week or two the use of mild ANTIDEPRESSANT DRUGS may be justi?ed. If depression persists, referral to a psychiatrist may be advisable. Rarely, severe psychiatric problems – puerperal psychosis – may develop during or after pregnancy and referral to an appropriate psychiatric unit is then essential. If the mother’s social circumstances are unsatisfactory, advice should be sought from social services departments. Mothers may also need advice on bene?ts to which they are entitled and how to claim them. Bene?ts Agency o?ces or Citizens’ Advice Bureaux as well as antenatal clinics are useful sources of information.... psychological and social problems

Rehabilitation Hospital

A hospital that specializes in providing restorative services to rehabilitate chronically ill and/or disabled individuals to a maximum level of functioning.... rehabilitation hospital

Social Capital

Kin and other sources of support available to an individual.... social capital

Social Care Service

Assistance with the activities of daily life (personal care, domestic maintenance, self-direction) delivered by a personal care helper, home helper or social worker and aimed at supporting older people who experience disabilities in functioning.... social care service

Social Classes

As factors such as the cause of death and the incidence of diseases vary in di?erent social strata, the Registrar-General evolved the following social classi?cation, which has now been in o?cial use for many years:

Class I Professional occupations, such as lawyers, clergymen, and commissioned o?cers in the Armed Forces.

Class II Intermediate occupations, such as teachers, managers and nurses.

Class III N: non-manual – for example, clerical workers.

Class III M: skilled manual occupations such as miners and bricklayers.

Class IV Partly skilled occupations, such as agricultural workers.

Class V Unskilled occupations, such as building and dock labourers.... social classes

Social Control

A process within society which both formally, through law, and informally, through customs, norms and mores, attempts to influence and order the actions of social groups and their members and thus maintain public order.... social control

Social Exclusion

A situation in which individuals are prevented from fully participating in society by factors such as age, poverty, disability or ethnicity.... social exclusion

Social Group

Any set of persons within society with particular demographic, economic or social characteristics.... social group

Social Integration

The extent to which individuals are engaged with their families, friends, neighbours and communities.... social integration

Social Isolation

A condition in which an individual has extremely limited social networks and supports.... social isolation

Social Network

An individual’s web of kinship, friendship and community ties.... social network

Social Network Care

See “informal care”.... social network care

Social Security Benefits

Benefits that include income for eligible persons from social security, old age, disability, and survivors’ pension schemes.... social security benefits

Social Support

Emotional, instrumental and financial assistance obtained from an individual’s social network. Social support provided by family, friends and neighbours is referred to as ‘informal support’, whereas social support provided by formal service agencies is called ‘formal support’.... social support

Social Work

An intervention designed to enhance an individual’s physical, mental and social functioning through improved coping skills and use of social supports and community health care services. Those who practise social work are generally called social workers. There are many different types, specialties and grades of social worker. Those who specialize in care of older adults are often called geriatric or gerontological social workers.... social work

Specialty Hospital

A hospital that admits only certain types of patients or those with specified illnesses or conditions. Examples include psychiatric hospitals and rehabilitation hospitals for the older population.... specialty hospital

Teaching Hospital

A hospital that provides education for students in the health professions.... teaching hospital

Virtual Hospital

See HOSPITAL.... virtual hospital

Mental Hospital

A hospital, formerly known as an asylum, specializing in the treatment of psychiatric illness.

Most admissions to mental hospitals are for acute psychiatric illness.

The majority of admissions are voluntary, but in some cases detention under the Mental Health Act may be necessary.... mental hospital

Social And Communication Disorders

A collective term for disorders such as Asperger’s syndrome and autism, which begin in childhood. Problems tend to persist throughout life.... social and communication disorders

Social Skills Training

A form of behaviour modification in which individuals are encouraged to improve their ability to communicate.

This is an important part of rehabilitation for people with mental handicap or those with chronic psychological disorders, such as schizophrenia.

Role-playing is a commonly used technique in which various social situations are simulated in order to improve the individual’s confidence and performance.... social skills training

Coal-worker’s Pneumoconiosis

a lung disease caused by coal dust. It affects mainly coal miners but also other exposed workers, such as lightermen, if the lungs’ capacity to accommodate and remove the particles is exceeded. See pneumoconiosis.... coal-worker’s pneumoconiosis

Community Hospital

see hospital.... community hospital

Department Of Health And Social Care

(DHSC) (in Britain) a department of central government that supports the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care in meeting his or her obligations, which include the *National Health Service, the promotion and protection of the health of the nation, and social care, including some oversight of personal social services provided by local authorities. The department is staffed by civil servants, including some health professionals. Following the reforms of the Health and Social Care Act 2012, the Department no longer has direct control of the NHS, which has passed to *NHS England. The name of the department was expanded from ‘Department of Health’ in 2018. Equivalent departments support the ministers responsible for health services in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland.

DHSC section of the website: provides information on a wide range of public health issues... department of health and social care

Health And Social Care Information Centre

(HSCIC) formerly, an executive nondepartmental public body set up in April 2013 to collect, analyse, and publish UK national health data and supply IT systems and services to health-care providers nationwide. It was rebranded as *NHS Digital in August 2016.... health and social care information centre

Hospital Episode Statistics

(HES) (in England) a database containing data on all admissions to NHS hospitals and admissions of NHS patients treated elsewhere. See record linkage.... hospital episode statistics

Hospital Fatality Rate

see case fatality rate.... hospital fatality rate

Hospital Infection

see nosocomial infection.... hospital infection

Malt-worker’s Lung

a form of extrinsic allergic *alveolitis seen in people who work with barley.... malt-worker’s lung

Social Anxiety Disorder

an extreme fear of humiliating or embarrassing oneself in social situations (e.g. dating, parties, eating with other people, asking questions, etc.). Symptoms include shaking, blushing, gastrointestinal disturbances, sweating, and other signs of anxiety; people with social anxiety disorder may avoid social situations. Treatment includes cognitive behavioural therapy, occupational therapy, and medication (e.g. antidepressants, anxiolytics, or beta blockers).... social anxiety disorder

Social Class

see National Statistics Socio-economic Classification.... social class

Social Marketing

the application of marketing techniques to achieve behaviour change for a social benefit, for example reduction in *health inequalities.... social marketing

Social Worker

see social services.... social worker

Voluntary Hospital

in the USA, a hospital that is owned or operated by a religious organization or community association to provide health-care facilities on a non-profit basis. In recent decades the role of voluntary hospitals has changed from one of caring primarily for *charity patients to one of serving all members of a community. At the same time, the practice of charging higher fees to patients able to afford them in order to compensate for the expense of caring for charity patients has generally been eliminated.... voluntary hospital



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