Screening for high social risk: principles and problems

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Social Work Practice
• Patient Referral Systems

Background:

• Effective hospital social work services are crucial for comprehensive patient care.
• Current referral systems often lead to underutilization of social work expertise.
• Reliance on other health personnel for referrals can create barriers to accessing social support.

Purpose of the Study:

• To propose a proactive screening mechanism for identifying patients with high social risk.
• To empower hospital social work staff by restoring initiative in patient identification.
• To enhance the utilization and impact of hospital social work services.

Main Methods:

• Development of a screening tool to assess social risk factors in hospital patients.
• Implementation of the screening mechanism within the hospital workflow.
• Analysis of referral patterns and social work intervention outcomes.

Main Results:

• The proposed screening mechanism effectively identifies patients with high social risk.
• Restoring initiative to social work staff improved the timeliness and appropriateness of referrals.
• Enhanced identification led to increased engagement with social work services.

Conclusions:

• A dedicated screening tool is essential for optimizing hospital social work referrals.
• Proactive identification of social risk improves patient care coordination.
• Empowering social work staff enhances service delivery and patient support.