Hospital Social Workers in the Eyes of Frontline Medical Staff of University of Benin Teaching Hospital, Benin City, Nigeria

Abstract

The complexity of infirmity and it strong root in social factors, necessitated the emergence of social workers in the healthcare system. However, the frontline medical staff remains uncertain about the purpose and roles of the hospital social work professionals in the biopsychosocial healthcare interdisciplinary collaborative relationship. The focus of this study, therefore, is to ascertain how the frontline medical staff in University of Benin Teaching Hospital (UBTH) perceives hospital social workers and this help to understand the extent in which the biopsychosocial model of healthcare has been embrace in the hospital. Semi-structured interview schedule based on face-to-face interviews was conducted among the selected participant in UBTH. Following the qualitative data analysis, findings suggest that the frontline medical staff of UBTH perceive hospital social workers as insignificant members of the medical team. The findings also illustrate that the hospital social workers perform roles/responsibilities outside their scope which may be the resultant effect for the poor value of the hospital social workers services. Consequently, recommendations are offered to hospital social workers to be professionally responsible in their roles/responsibilities as these are what create their identity in the eyes of the frontline medical staff.

Keywords: Hospital Social Workers, Frontline Medical Staff, Health, Biopsychosocial, UBTH