Strategies for facilitating social work placements in general practice

Area of Science:

• Primary Care
• Social Work Education
• Interdisciplinary Practice

Background:

• General practices offer opportunities to enhance interdisciplinary skills and patient care.
• Integrating social work placements can improve understanding of the social work discipline.

Purpose of the Study:

• To provide strategies for optimizing social work student placements in general practice.
• To guide the design, student selection, and preparation for successful placements.

Main Methods:

• Pilot project involving social work students in 500-hour general practice placements.
• Collaborative development of strategies by social work and general practice academics and practitioners.

Main Results:

• Key strategies include preparing stakeholders, providing targeted supervision, and allocating longer appointment times.
• Effective hosting of social work students benefits student learning and the general practice.

Conclusions:

• Successful social work placements in general practice foster multidisciplinary practice.
• These placements connect general practices with best practices, research, and community resources.