Agency Theory In Health Care

At community level, the social worker plays the role of advocacy. She is persuasive, assertive, and patient in her day-to-day encounter with patients. She is a community organizer; she coordinates financial aid to long-term residents without sponsorship and serves as a liaison to some of the patients she cares for. It is vital for the human service professional to provide information about social issues that are likely to affect the public (O'Hagan, 2007).

Walter Cronkite, an American broadcast journalist, once stated: “America's health care system is neither healthy, caring, nor a system.” The structure we use can simply be summarized as capitalistic and inefficient. The United States healthcare system is a constant cycle of an astronomical amount of money wasted on doctors who don’t invest the right amount of care into their patients; however, we need to move healthcare upstream in a way that results in improving health at the start and discarding harmful programs.

Our healthcare system needs major restructuring. Major improvements needs to begin with "all health care organizations, professional groups, and private and public purchasers should adopt as their explicit purpose to continually reduce the burden of illness, injury, and disability, and to improve the health and functioning of the people of the United States", (Crossing the ……, 2001).

Social workers assist individuals, groups or communities restore or enhance social functioning through creating living conditions favorable to their goal or need. Social workers are trained professionals that help people overcome some of life’s most difficult challenges such as poverty, discrimination, abuse, addiction, physical illness, educational issues, mental illness, disability, unemployment, etc. They accomplish this through counseling individuals, families and communities; teaching them how to cope with the stresses of everyday life. From a political standpoint, social workers spend time and money on campaigns that elect public officials that are committed to social work values. Sound public policies enable social workers to meet human needs, be fairly compensated and promote social justice. Overall I perceive social work as a “take action” profession. Often times, we as human beings complain and talk about what needs to be done but do not do anything beyond that. Social workers are hands on. They are not just talking about what “should” be done but they are doing something to better our communities. Social workers are about making a difference in society by helping others out that are in need for various reasons. If you are very sick and in need of assistance to perform normal, everyday functions, social workers can assist

The topic I have chosen is the history of health care in the United States. We have obviously come a long way in the field of health care. We have undergone many changes and endured some great debates on how we should go about providing health care to the U.S. citizens. How people go about receiving health care varies by country and on the individual. It can be influenced by the economic and social standing of the country including the kind of health policies in place. Everyone has different policies and plans for their personal goals for their health care within society. Organizations of health care are made to meet health needs of the population. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a well-functioning health care system requires a robust financing mechanism; a well-trained and adequately-paid workforce; reliable information on which to base decisions and policies; and well maintained health facilities and logistics to deliver quality medicines and technologies. Health care can significantly help a country’s economy.

As an example, the social worker’s professional role consists of advocating in policy for the delivery of service by arguing for the responses to disparities and the lack of access to health care (Gehlert & Browne, 2012). Gehlert and Brown (2012) asserted social workers at the state level must become the voice and source of analysis for the coverage of both Medicaid and SCHIP; at the local level, the social worker’s role is to assist as a health-care safety net, more so in the absence of universal coverage; however, most importantly, the social worker brings their level of expertise to the table regarding the understanding and the effects of programs such as Medicare and Medicaid on the populations and communities deemed as vulnerable. As a social worker that is committed to the field, it is important that we take the lead for those under normal circumstances would not otherwise have a voice. Because everyone has unique needs, we must understand barriers that are non-health related must also be addressed such as social, cultural, and

Additionally, social workers can advocate for higher benchmarks and organizations, conduct research and acknowledge to be alterable in procedure alteration and execution. Clinical social authorities need a Master of social administration (MSW), and administrators would perhaps support hopefuls with a MSW for body and prevalent

They act as advocators, educators, advisors and coordinators of care to help people deal with external environmental factors that might affect them within their social structures in order for healthcare goals to be achieved. They promote education of the community and raise awareness of social issues affecting the community. Since social workers regularly have to deal with a community’s psychological needs it is important that they attain knowledge from psychologists in order to provide the best care within the community -

The roles of a medical social worker are being case managers, counselors, non medical support, respond to crisis situations and provide psychological assessments and clinical therapy, promote strategies for improving and/ or maintaining the client’s health. Some skills that medical social workers need are empathy, counseling, listening, self-awareness, organization, and many other skills. They serve many types of clients including all races, ages, genders, socioeconomic statuses, abilities, nationalities, and religions. Most social workers in this field of practice work in a hospital, clinics, hospice, or other similar medical facilities. Some medical social workers have a specialized job, while others may serve many different clients. They may specialize in things such

Today about 1/3 of the population does not have the security of knowing that the will get medical care when they need it. There are some people that have no medical insurance at all and the others have inadequate health insurance. Health Care services need reorganizing to halt unnecessary care treatments, avoid barriers for people, and include basic medical checkups for all children under the age of 18, the elderly, and low income families.

A health care system refers to the comprehensive organization, structures and strategies through which Medicare and health care is made available by the government to its citizens. A health care system is a product of countries politics. It is a nations system of governance that will dictate upon the most convenient model of health care to adopt. There is no universally acceptable method, and in adopting each; a government has to take into account a variety of factors, which would range from available finances vis-a-vis the total population. A comparison of two models

In chapter one, we begin to grasp a more thorough understanding of a social worker’s practice and how different theories can be more effective while others are found less effective due to the client population, the practice setting, and the overall values of the practitioner. The authors emphasize that social work is an extremely wide realm, and that direct practice is applying specific social work theories and techniques to not only resolve, but to prevent psychosocial problems that individuals, families and groups experience (Walsh, 2010). Throughout the chapter, the authors focus on five different aspects/facets/approaches of the profession.

Self-determination in relation to health is often reflected in a community having ownership and control over their health programs. Self-governance structures often play a role in self-determination in health services however not all nations/communities have this advantage as in order to gain self-government, they often give-up funding and other benefits. It is important to recognize that colonial structures have purposely sought to undermine self-determination (Ladner, 2009). Webster (2011) highlights that health outcomes improve when First Nations communities have control over their health care.

Any of these solutions can largely contribute to a healthier US health care system; one in particular can directly prevent the increasing bad debt within health care. The health care system has many different stems and branches that drive cost. The interconnectedness is similar to an actual living plant. Anything that the roots of the plant is lacking or has an abundance of, directly effects the health of the stems, branches and all other aspects of the plant. When a plant is sick, the caregiver tends to focus on making sure the roots of the plant has what they need—water and nutrients, in order to reach all of the other parts. The same goes for the health care system. The root of the increasing bad debts within health care is the cost of supplies that the hospitals must buy to take care of patients.

Medical social workers collaborate with other human service workers to help severely ill patients, suffering from physical and psychological issues. Throughout the many challenges of patients, medical social workers and other professionals meet the common and severe needs of people with physical and mental illnesses. Andrews, Darnell, McBride, & Gehlert (2013) state “Social workers are familiar with the complex and overlapping systems that must be negotiated to ensure that the social, psychological and economic needs of individuals and groups are addressed in a way that underscores optimal health” (p. 67). Once the patient discuss their core issues with the medical social worker and other medical staff members at the hospital, physicians, nurses, and medical social workers can give patients ' positive feedback the concerns their health and well-being. Medical social workers interact with each other for the patient’s safety.