Adelson G, Leader M A
Hosp Community Psychiatry. 1980 Nov;31(11):776-80. doi: 10.1176/ps.31.11.776.
Social workers have played an integral role in the treatment of psychiatric patients in hospitals since the earliest days of the 20th century. At first totally dependent on the support and approval of the medical profession, psychiatric social work later became professionalized and began to take responsibility for a wide variety of duties in the institution. Through a study of private and voluntary hospitals, the authors found that despite decades of acceptance by medical staff, the social worker today functions in an environment where final administrative authority on hiring staff and deciding the need for social work services often falls outside the social work department. The survey also identifies the relative importance of various professional duties and the impact of social work on institution decision-making. Involvement by social workers in patient discharge planning could well ensure the future of social work in hospitals in a time of tight budgets, they conclude.
自20世纪初以来，社会工作者在医院精神科患者的治疗中发挥了不可或缺的作用。起初，精神科社会工作完全依赖于医学专业的支持和认可，后来逐渐专业化，并开始在机构中承担各种各样的职责。通过对私立和志愿医院的研究，作者发现，尽管几十年来一直被医务人员所接受，但如今社会工作者所处的环境是，在招聘员工和决定是否需要社会工作服务方面的最终行政权力往往不属于社会工作部门。该调查还确定了各种专业职责的相对重要性以及社会工作对机构决策的影响。他们总结道，在预算紧张的时期，社会工作者参与患者出院计划很可能确保医院社会工作的未来。
