Social work in Medical Adult Day Care is both challenging and difficult to learn on one’s own. Yet, despite all the teaching programs and internships, it appears that field training is the most effective way of acquiring the necessary skills for medical social work. Understanding the professional goals of medical social workers is essential in ascertaining the most appropriate methods of training students for a Medical Adult Day Care Center.
The first professional objective is providing support to people with health challenges and their families. Forenza and Eckert (2018) argue that the ultimate goal is to “enhance human well-being and help meet the basic human needs of all people” (p. 17). This implies that learning agencies should prioritize psychology in training. Students should learn how to bring comfort to anxious and possibly grieving people.
The second professional objective is educating patients on medical issues. Social workers communicate the details of treatment and possible developments of illnesses. This task necessitates knowledge of ailments and ways of combating them (Fugl-Meyer, 2016). For a learning agency to implement this concept, it might be helpful to have students meet patients and advise them on their health issues.
Both these skills are already trained during internships, yet it might be helpful to increase its efficiency if students feel personal accountability. Wayne and Raskin (2010) believe that “a major modification of field education as currently carried out would be the addition of greater student visibility of their field education performance” (p. 334). In practice, this means that patients can relay their overview of students’ performance to internship instructors, thus making them feel more accountable.
Altogether, like any other sphere, social work requires field training. Therefore, students should have as much exposure to the real setting as possible to adequately prepare for the job. Learning agencies can accentuate psychology and conversation skills in training, while the efficiency of internships can be implemented by having actual patients evaluate the work done by students. Overall, the immediate interaction with patients will help students become Medical Adult Day Care social workers.
References
Forenza, B., & Eckert, C. (2018). Social worker identity: A profession in context. Social Work, 63(1), 17-26.
Fugl-Meyer, K. S. (2016). A medical social work perspective on rehabilitation. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine, 48(9), 758-763.
Wayne, J., Bogo, M., & Raskin, M. (2010). Field education as the signature pedagogy of social work education. Journal of Social Work Education, 46(3), 327-339.