Introduction
Social workers are regarded as highly trained individuals working closely to foster the standard of life and the well-being of other people through crisis intervention, policy changes, and educational programs. Social workers play a crucial role in ensuring that there is an improvement in general well-being and mental health among individuals. These professionals spend much of their time evaluating, identifying, nursing, and averting mental, emotional, and behavioral challenges. In addition, most social workers are dedicated to pursuing various social justice and striving to help the people affected by disabilities, poverty, unemployment, and other general and social problems. Mental health and social work are closely connected; they have been inseparable as their roots can be traced back to the 20th century when the inaugural class was taught at Columbian University. Living with mental illness is often associated with severe challenges in society. Thus, the condition should be addressed effectively to ensure that individuals coexist comfortably. Therefore, social workers play a vital role in improving our society’s general well-being and mental health.
Employment conditions
Over the recent years, the social work category has created a more comprehensive range of employment opportunities for individuals fascinated by studying mental health. It also helps in identifying the appropriate form of treatment and coming up with effective prevention measures. As a result, the stipulation and request for social workers specializing in psychiatry have increased significantly. According to Pilgrim (2019), employment in these two categories is anticipated to rise to approximately 18% between 2018 and 2028. This is because more individuals have begun to seek medication for their psychiatric challenges, behavioral complications, and, most critically, psychological challenges, hence illustrating the necessity for dilating the mental career. In the US, approximately one individual out of five is likely to experience or encounter mental illness yearly, which raises questions on the way and the role of social workers in diversifying the mental health sector and solving the existing challenges.
Typically, the mental healthcare sector’s social work has always been at the forefront of several economic, health, and other economic causes, such as lack or poor job, disability pay, and social security. Together with channeling for transparent and unbiased healthcare initiatives, the majority of the social care professionals also involve themselves in handling child abuse and negligence behaviors (Matthews, 2020). They also handle depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, and significant life events such as divorce, terminal illness, and bereavement. In addition, they help individuals to cope with matters surrounding lack of jobs, residential homes, and the unending types of disabilities.
Importance of Social Workers in Mental Health Setting
Nonetheless, psychiatric social workers play an important role in supporting various families, individuals, and, most importantly, communities as they tend to overcome the day-to-day challenges hindering their well-being. An illustration of this is the motive to address the patient’s substance abuse challenges and issues; mental and social workers play a crucial role in helping the addicts recover (Fazel & Betancourt, 2018). They also help them identify new employment opportunities, obtain an affordable form of housing, and most importantly, exploit the accessible mental health services. However, since different patients have different demands and needs, the social work professionals have to base their focal point on developing an indestructible connection based on transparency, empathy, and trust. This is essential to individuals with mental challenges as they might be more sensitive to specific communication models and experiences.
Psychiatric social workers use their strength, capability, knowledge, experience, and skills to assist patients with mental challenges to evaluate, detect and handle their pre-existing conditions. Contrary to the standard policies in the psychological field or category, psychiatric social works consider the environmental and societal elements that affect an individual’s emotional well-being and physical-mental (Golightley & Goemans, 2020). Therefore, this module primarily seeks to address the pre-existing hardship contributing to the human being’s general mental health complications. Furthermore, the clinical or psychiatric social workers also consider a variety of mental health challenges which enables them to work in various settings and assist and meet the needs and wants of the different patients.
Nevertheless, school social work is regarded as a unique section that primarily bases the focal point on the evolution, turn of events, and the mental health of the US students and the general education system. These well-trained, equipped, and educated individuals hence play a vital role in helping the children and younger adults experiencing mental illness and continuous behavioral challenges (Mwebe, 2017). Therefore, working closely or together with the teachers and parents enables the social workers offer academic support so as to help the students achieve their set goals and objectives. They also participate in offering individual and group counseling to enable the students to identify and recognize the signs of negligence and abuse and, most importantly, understand their home environments.
There are also substance abuse social workers facilitating the diagnosing process and treating drug addiction cases. They work closely with the patients to ensure that they have reduced or stopped drug and alcohol consumption. In addition, they are responsible for identifying the root causes of addiction, and most importantly, they have to come up with a detailed and effective treatment plan (Golightley & Goemans, 2020). Most of the substance and drug abuse social laborers are employed at various healthcare facilities, sudden and abrupt withdrawal centers, and even the mental clinics where drug addicts are trying to recover.
Nonetheless, for the patients undergoing acute crisis or are in a dangerous situation, they might hurt themselves. Therefore, the psychiatric social workers have to conduct a thorough evaluation, short-term crisis support, and, most crucially, care coordination as part of the crisis team. Furthermore, the mental illness social workers tend to work together with the crisis and emergency personnel to assess the needs and wants of their patients. They also play a crucial task in helping obtain the intensive and premium care they require and, most importantly, give recommendations regarding involuntary hospitalization (Fazel & Betancourt, 2018). However, the crisis service environment is regarded as short-term compared to the inpatient hospital mental illness settings. This is because the patients are directed to hospitals and intensive care facilities only when they receive long-term care.
In the outpatient psychiatric setting, the mental illness social workers offer effective therapy and care coordination to the individuals who do not require immediate hospitalization but still have a mental illness. However, most patients in this type of setup are at a higher risk of being hospitalized or discharged from an inpatient type of setting (Mwebe, 2017). The social workers in this setting also tend to work for longer hours to attend to their patients and even guide them through multiple systems compared to their counterparts in the inpatient setting. In addition, they have to offer therapy to patients with a wide range of mental health needs, including depression and anxiety.
The primary goal of psychiatric social workers is to stabilize and support individuals encountering intense and persistent psychological distress. They achieve this by combining diagnostic evaluations, individual and group therapies, and care coordination. In addition, they are responsible for conducting diagnostic assessments such as the mental treatment history, care management that entails monitoring the patient’s progress throughout the treatment period (Pilgrim, 2019). However, despite playing a pivotal role in transforming the mental illness setting, psychiatric social work also has several shortcomings. It is unpredictable and dangerous as there is a lack of insurance or coverage for mental health services. Furthermore, the setting also encounters a lack of an effective form of transportation and language barriers. However, this shortcoming may be curbed and mitigated by addressing the safety challenges and educating people.
Conclusion
In conclusion, social workers have significantly participated in transforming the mental illness sets. They have ensured that they diagnose and treat the existing mental health conditions. In addition, they have offered various individuals, parents, couples, and family therapies as well as helping them to overcome matters surrounding anxiety, depression, and other behavioral challenges. They have also ensured that overall human health and the well-being of individuals have improved in various societies. The social workers achieved this by connecting the patients to the needed services and facilitating communication between the relevant authorities and stakeholders to ensure the best care. Nonetheless, the social workers also work together with other organizations and clients to help them solve the challenges they encounter in their day-to-day lives.
References
Fazel, M., & Betancourt, T. S. (2018). Preventive mental health interventions for refugee children and adolescents in high-income settings. The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 2(2), 121-132. Web.
Golightley, M., & Goemans, R. (2020). Social work and mental health. Sage.
Matthews, E. B. (2020). Both insider and outsider: On conducting social work research in mental health settings Beth Sapiro. Web.
Mwebe, H. (2017). Physical health monitoring in mental health settings: A study explores mental health nurses’ role views. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 26(19-20), 3067-3078. Web.
Pilgrim, D. (2019). Critical concepts in mental health. Sage.