PSYCHIATRIC SOCIAL WORKERS AND SUPPORT OF PATIENTS IN HEALTH CARE FACILITIES

The main goal of psychiatric social workers is to stabilize and support people experiencing intense psychological distress or behavioral issues that threaten their safety and well-being or the safety and well-being of others. Psychiatric social workers accomplish this through a combination of diagnostic assessments, psychosocial and risk assessments, individual and group therapy, and care coordination/case management services. Psychiatric social workers complete a variety of tasks when working with patients, including psychosocial and risk assessments, individualized and group psychotherapy and counseling, crisis intervention and support, care coordination, and discharge planning services. Psychiatric social workers are employed in various settings, ranging from intensive inpatient wards to outpatient psychiatric clinics. The responsibilities and patient populations of psychiatric social workers vary significantly depending on their work setting and the teams to which they are assigned at their place of employment. For example, some social workers within hospitals’ psychiatric departments will specifically support severely mentally ill individuals involved in the criminal justice system or work exclusively with trauma victims. This study examines the role of psychiatric social workers in health facilities and the support and services they render to patients in a rapidly changing world