Social Work Referral Readiness: A Study of Staff Awareness and Knowledge in Hospital Settings of Obio Akpor Local Government Area

Abstract

This study investigated the level of the staff awareness on the cases to be referred to social work professionals in the hospital. Primary source of data was generated through self- administered questionnaires. The population of the study was 800medical staffs, while the sample size of 267 was determined using the Taro Yamane’s formula for sample size determination. The study involved different cadres of hospital staff including; clinicians, nurses, radiologists, dental officers and hospital nutritionist. The result indicated that the majority of respondents which is 78.5% were not aware of the roles and functions of hospital social workers. Moreover, 78.5% of respondents were also not aware of the cases that require social work interventions. The study concludes that these challenges are the source of under-utilization of the medical social workers, which affects the welfare of patients and clients who would otherwise have benefited from social welfare officers interventions. Moreover, the study recommended that the number of social work professionals should be increased so that they can effectively manage patients and clients requiring their care. This is true because the result shows that 81.5% of the respondents agrees that the social work unit has less staffs to handle clients cases. To eliminate these challenges, the study recommends that enough facilities be provided for social workers to carry out their intervention and social workers should be allowed to take decisions within their jurisdiction as these will serve as motivation, thereby bringing job satisfaction.