Attitudes of physicians and nurses towards the role of social workers in primary health care: what promotes collaboration?

Many writers have indicated that the future of social work in primary health care is dependent on the attitudes of physicians and nurses. This article reviews the literature in the field and describes the results of a study of 95 physicians and 78 nurses in Israel which found that physicians have a more positive attitude towards social work intervention than nurses and explores the differences in these attitudes in relation to particular personal characteristics. Physicians who were young, had recently received their MD degree and had been educated in Israel had by far the most positive attitudes towards social workers. Those aged over 60 years old, who had received their MD degree in Western countries more than 25 years ago were more positively inclined towards social work in the clinics than middle-aged physicians educated in Eastern European countries. The personal characteristics of the nurses made little difference to their generally poor attitude towards social work in the clinics. Those who received their nursing education more recently were more positive than other nurses.