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Association appeals for more social workers
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SHANGHAI has about 580 medical social workers who work in hospitals, but needs at least 1,000 according to an international standard.
As well as recruiting more staff, people who work in the sector want the government to set up a professional development and evaluation system for social workers.
It is not regarded as a high-level job in Shanghai, unlike other professions, such as doctors and nurses.
The lack of status can affect social workers’ professional growth and income, and might result in a talent drain in the future.
Shanghai in 2012 became the first city in China to regulate social workers in hospitals.
Such people play an important role by offering consultation and help to patients, releasing pressure on them and their relatives, and streamlining the relationship between patients and doctors, an official from the Shanghai Social Worker Association said yesterday, which was World Social Work Day.
“Social work originated in Western countries, and those countries have mature systems,” said Dr Ji Qingying, director of the association’s medical social worker branch.
“Many developed countries and regions have at least one social worker for every 100 hospital beds,” he said.
“Local hospitals started to introduce medical social workers about 10 years ago. They offer services like family education, psychological therapy, hospice care, organ donation promotion, support for needy families and communication between patients and medical staff. They are gaining recognition from health authorities, patients and medical staff,” he said.
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