MEDICAL SOCIAL WORK AND INDIA AUTHOR Dr .A. K. AVASARALA MBBS,M.D. PROFESSOR &HEAD, DEPT OF COMMUNITY MEDICINE & EPIDEMIOLOGY PRATHIMA INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL SCIENCES, KARIMNAGAR,A.P.. INDIA : +91505417 avasarala@yahoo.com Author profile :-After medical graduation, worked for 17 years in the field as primary care physician in primary health centres, area hospitals, mobile medical units, cholera combat team, filarial control project, casualty department, divisional secondary care hospitals Then completed post graduation in public health medicine/preventive &social medicine &epidemiology and teaching medical graduates and post graduates, nursing students, physiotherapy students, primary care personnel for the last 15 years. At present ,working as Professor & Head of the department of Community medicine & Epidemiology contributing to the cause of epidemiological spread and growth in India as Indian super course epidemiology developer . Other eighteen super course lectures of author can be accessed at www. pitt.edu/~super1/faculty/lecturers/htm

PROMPT Medical social work, a powerful weapon to realize comprehensive and qualitative health care is used only in a few limited fields and less used. It needs boosting up and revitalization, particularly among the medical students, doctors and health planners. This thought prompted me for the development of this lecture

Learning objectives What is medical social work? What are its guiding principles? What are its working principles and methods? Its usage in India?

Performance objectives Learner should be able to Practice Direct and Indirect assistance methods of Medical social work to realize qualitative and comprehensive health care .

Definition It is the application and adoption of the method and philosophy of social work in the field of health and medical care.

Definitions Branch of social work and deals with the social, physical and psychological aspects of patient. Social work in medical setting Using relevant social skills and knowledge to help the patients

History and background 1880-1900 In England, after the mental patients were discharged, visitors and nurses were asked to give advices to them . Dr. Charles Emerson , USA opined that medical science should also include the study of emotional and social problems. He suggested that medical students should work as volunteers under the charities and agencies.

History and background Year 1905: Boston medical institutions appointed MSW (medical social worker) for the first time In India, Tata Institute of social sciences had taken up the lead medial social work.

Fink ,the Sociologist “Life is a series of interruption and recoveries.” Man is a unity of mind and body and medicine must consider this unity. Physiology, chemistry and biology cannot alone or together explain all intricacies of illness. The disturbances of mind and body cannot be dealt with separately. They form the two phases of a single problem.

Nature and Scope Medical social work is based on the assumption of the individual’s dignity Guided and inspired by basic values social work

Nature& Scope According to medical social work-- health refers to that state or condition, in which an individual is capable to utilize all the capacities of his social living.

Nature and scope Medical social work considers human health with a broad perspective. The treatment is not the final solution for illness in medical social work. Disease and diseased person are different from each other.

Nature and scope Medical science gives emphasis on the disease but ignores the importance of the diseased person. But the medical social work studies the diseased person viz. the social aspect of the disease.

Nature and Scope Medical social work deals with the prevention of disease, after care of the patients and social rehabilitation of patients, --and not just limited to the treatment of disease.

Uses To discover the social and psychological background of a patient To make the patient free from his psychological tensions To discover the psychosocial factors of the illness

Working concept Medical social work deals with the those problems of the patient which are related to the physical and psychological environment It is oriented towards the assistance of those people, who during their treatment, face social, physical ,economic and psychological problems.

Working principles mainly social techniques and mostly humanitarian in nature. By enabling the patient for solving his problems (building up his capacities) By determining the social and psychological influence. By developing the willpower and determination of the patient

Working principles 4)By enabling the patient to adjust with his problems. 5)By developing proper environment

Working methods Case study method, Direct method of assistance Indirect method of assistance

Case study method By, case study method, MSW collects information with regard to the specific needs of the patient and works towards their fulfillment in accordance with the available means

Direct methods of assistance MSW is directly involved in the assistance. Social case work- Assistance is provided to the individual patient with the aim of developing his inherent capacity

Social group work- Direct assistance Medical social worker tries at strengthening the social relations of the patient and works towards the development of a healthy social environment

Indirect methods of assistance Community organization Social administration Social insurance and social security Social action Social work research

Indirect assistance Community organization = organization of community resources with regard to health problem by MSW Social administration= MSW guides the public opinion for enactment of new social legislations or any amendment in prevailing legislations Social security& insurance= enabling the patient to utilize the facilities under social security and insurance by MSW

Indirect assistance 4)Social action= MSW participates in the movements of social action at the national (national health programme involvement) and international levels( world health days) 5)Social work research= MSW inspires surveys and investigations regarding the social ,economic and psychological problems of the patient

Medico social work in India Less importance was given to this important branch of health promotion Tata institute of Social Sciences is only pioneering and struggling in this field Less awareness and practice of this very useful extension of health care delivery in India most of the national health programmes are running at a snail pace due to non- use of this field of medicine.

Medico social work in India Medical social work is limited to few areas of health care in India --- Department of Sexually transmitted diseases Department of pediatrics Department of community medicine Department of obstetrics

Summary Medical social work is a very powerful and essential branch of medicine for realizing a comprehensive and qualitative health care. As long as it is considered as an offshoot of social work, it draws little attention by the medical personnel and health planners. This is the problem in India. Time has come to consider it as a part and parcel of medical and health care.

References. Paul Chowdhary, “Introduction to social Work” third revised edition, Atmaram & sons, Delhi, Lucknow