Social work in health settings in the U.S.A

The review of the literature on social work focuses on the development of the profession in the United States, its involvement in health areas, and some of the recent directions with which writers in the profession are concerned. The diversity of the literature, as well as the culturally defined practice nature of the profession, make cross-national comparison of patterns of development of less value. The relationship between social work in health and mental health settings is mentioned, but the literature in psychiatric social work is large enough to be the subject of a separate survey. The profession is now represented in most primary-care-giving agencies in the United States, and in public health settings as well. Practitioners meet standards of training and education in common with nationally defined norms. Future concerns of social work in health include the effects of advancing medical technology on the patient care system, the increasing life expectancy with emphasis on old age, and controlling the increase in population.