The concept of responsibility in a health model of social work

The current lifestyle reform movement places a central emphasis on individuals' responsibility for their health status. Such focus provides a useful corrective for the traditional preoccupation with physician-centered techniques but it poses some difficulties as well. This paper analyzes the hidden consequences of holding people responsible for their health and suggests ways in which the concept of responsibility can be repatterned. This enhanced perspective is seen to be more compatible with a social work perspective which values human capacity for health and positive change.