The Social Work Process and the Practice of Medical Social Workers with an Unidentified Homeless Patient

Abstract

Qualitative research was done to study knowledge skills and attitudes in the identification process for medical social workers to identify unidentified homeless patients, and relevant identification methods. Data was gathered by semi-structured interview from 11 social workers and medical social workers in hospitals who deal with, or have dealt with, unidentified homeless patients in eight hospitals.Results were social workerProcesses with identifying homeless patients may be classified into three phases according to length of time that the patient undergoes treatment: preparation, follow up, and evaluation. In each phase, the operational process should be classified, and operational guidelines established for identifying the status and identity of unidentified homeless patients.These findings suggest that a practical manual should be formulated for identifying unidentified homeless patients and promote multidisciplinary work in practice to jointly develop guidelines and determine common practices including promoting social worker performance to be more proactive and spatially engaged in acquiring necessary information. Social worker policy sections in hospitals should be encouraged in accordance with patient bed number to effectively resolve patient care is cases involving social problems.