Families of young technology-dependent children and the social worker

Health care social workers are increasingly providing services to young children who are technology-dependent through participation on individualized family service plan (IFSP) teams, as well as in clinical settings. Such participation suggests that new models for assessing the impact of medical technologies on family functioning will, of necessity, also begin to emerge. Assessment implications from a family systems perspective are presented that may be used to guide the development of future assessment strategies for health care social workers.