Using Latent Class Analysis to Understand Social Worker Roles in Integrated Health Care

<strong>Purpose</strong>: Social work (SW) is a profession that fulfills important roles on integrated health teams, yet there remains a lack of clarity on SW's functions. The current study sought to identify typologies of SW's roles on integrated care teams using latent class analysis (LCA).<strong>Method</strong>: An electronic survey was developed, piloted, and administered to Masters level SW students and practitioners in integrated health care settings (N&nbsp;=&nbsp;395) regarding weekly use of interventions. LCA was conducted to estimate latent sub-groups of respondents.<strong>Results</strong>: Respondents reported an average of 14.6 (SD&nbsp;=&nbsp;4.7) interventions. Five classes of SW roles were identified and varied by setting and focus. One class (13%) completed a hybrid function providing behavioral health and social care interventions.<strong>Conclusions</strong>: Classes of SW roles on teams may reflect varying models of integrated care. A flexible SW on the team may adapt to patient and clinic needs, but increases the opportunity for role confusion.