[Quality assurance in clinical social work: how do social workers judge the success of their interventions?].

Therapy outcome is an important criterium for quality assurance. In this study, clinical social workers themselves estimated the outcome of their interventions in 2643 admissions of 2038 patients to a psychiatric hospital. These inpatients had been referred by a psychiatrist to the social worker and comprised 27 % of all patients admitted to the hospital within 11 years. The study purpose was to investigate how the outcome estimates relate to clinical and sociodemographic variables of the patients, to their specific problems, and to the applied interventions. The fewer areas of problems were perceived and the more interventions were performed, the more positive these interventions were evaluated. Administrative interventions were seen as more successful than counseling. Outcome estimates were particularly positive in long and intensive therapies.