Influences on social work time expenditure in a voluntary inpatient psychiatric unit

This article describes a study of social work time expenditure on a voluntary inpatient psychiatric unit in an inner-city, tertiary-care, teaching hospital that serves many publicly funded patients. The study examined the influence of a number of presenting problems, individual psychosocial factors, and demographic factors. Controlling for patient length of stay, four factors were found to influence time expenditure: (1) greater number of assessed psychosocial problems, (2) Asian ethnocultural background, (3) the interactive effect of being a Medicaid recipient or having a pending Medicaid application and needing placement in a structured living situation, and (4) referrals to child protective services.