Publications from ODSW Social Insights: Letters by DSW (Vol 1) | Página 25

The Role of Social Work in Modern Social Care Models

Dear Students of Social Work,
With the rising number of frail older persons needing care, someone asked
me where social work fits in the modern models of care. One can assume
that underpining the question is a concern about whether there are sufficient
facilities to provide care. From one perspective, this is an opportunity to
bring in the human aspect into the work that we do. So let’s explore what
might be involved.

Facilitation by a knowledgeable and trained
professional
What most people will tell us is that they want care to be provided when they
need it in an integrated way. And many people think of integration either
through a health lens, as “integrated healthcare”, or health and social care.
We should however not forget the important role of other services, such as
housing and leisure. So the aim of modern models is to see the integration of
health, social care and housing. And person-centred coordinated care should
be the starting point for any move towards integrating services. The SCAN
Foundation defines care coordination as a service based on consultations and
information with and among the individual, the person’s providers, and family
members where appropriate, facilitated by a knowledgeable and trained
professional that leads to the individual obtaining the right care, in the right
place, at the right time to address the person’s needs with an appropriate
use of resources1. This is the ideal and indeed a tall order for any professional
given that there are finite resources at their disposal.
Another useful reference point comes from the US Center for Disease Control
and Prevention which has a good definition of “Aging in Place”2. Aging
in place is “The ability to live in one’s own home and community safely,
1 The Scan Foundation. (Dec 2013). Achieving Person-Centred Care Through Care Coordination. Policy
Brief, No. 8. Retrieved from http://thescanfoundation.org/achieving-person-centered-care-through-carecoordination
2 Aging in Place. (Aug 2013). Healthy Places Terminology.
healthyplaces/terminology.htm

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Retrieved from http://www.cdc.gov/