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| Title: | A snapshot of the role of social workers in multidisciplinary child and adolescent mental health teams in the Republic of Ireland [thesis] / by Margaret Lisa Brennan |
| Other titles: | A dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences in partical fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of masters of science in health services management |
| Authors: | Brennan, Margaret Lisa |
| Affiliation: | Health Service Executive (HSE) |
| Publisher: | University of Dublin (Trinity College) |
| Issue date: | Sep-2009 |
| URI: | http://hdl.handle.net/10147/91279 |
| Type: | Thesis |
| Language: | en |
| Description: | This study sought to describe and explore the role and practice of social work in
multidisciplinary child and adolescent mental health teams in the republic of
Ireland (CAMHS). There was little existing literature in the area and the issue of
role definition was of interest to social workers in practice in CAMHS. The area of
role definition in CAMHS generally is also of interest to health service managers
as there is concern about long waiting lists in some parts of the country. The
literature review pointed to social work as a socially constructed profession often
defined externally to the profession and determined by agency context.
A qualitative approach was adopted to gain an in -depth insight into the social
work description and perception of role and contribution to the multi
disciplinary team. The impact, if any, of individual social workers further
training on the development of social work roles in child and adolescent
mental health teams was also explored.
Semi structured interviews were held with ten social workers currently in
practice in specialist child and adolescent mental health teams. The participants
represented all grades of social workers and a variety of employing agencies
and geographical areas. The interviews were audio taped with the permission of
the participants and transcribed by the researcher. The data collected was
analysed using thematic analysis to identify significant themes and to compare
the experiences of the participants. The findings were drawn from this analysis.
The study found that there is not a universal, discrete social work role in child
and adolescent mental health teams in the republic of Ireland; the
development of the social work role is impacted upon by factors external to
the teams, the further training undertaken by individual social workers and the
particular skills and interests of social workers and other team members.
Considerable overlap in roles among the various disciplines involved in the
multidisciplinary teams was noted. Social workers are involved in direct
intervention with children and families and indirect intervention with schools
and local community initiatives. Participant social workers are also very
involved in education offering practice placements to social work students
and teaching on third level courses in social work and related fields. The main focus of social work intervention is with parents but not to the
exclusion of direct work with young people. Social workers reported changes
in the social work role to a primarily therapeutic activity with practice being
determined by skills, competencies and individual interests than by discipline
training. Social workers in child and adolescent mental health services have
tended to pursue further training in particular therapeutic modalities such as
family therapy which has varying impacts on their practice of social work.
The study found some differences in practice in relation to the use of social
worker as a title with some participants using the title of therapist. While
individual casework was the most common intervention, social workers in
child and adolescent mental health also report significant involvement in
providing group work interventions to children and parents.
Social workers view their particular contribution to the multi disciplinary
child and adolescent mental health team as offering a social perspective to
compliment the medical understanding of mental health issues in childhood
and adolescence. Social workers also see themselves as becoming involved
with the more complex and difficult presentations. The area of involvement in
cases where there are child protection and welfare concerns varies widely
from team to team.
A key finding was the impact of external factors such as the availability of
resources within the team and in the local community on the practice of social
work in CAMHS. The current focus on reducing waiting lists and increasing
the number of clinical contacts is causing concern for participant social
workers who fear that the capacity to engage in long term complex work with
children and families will be reduced.
The study points to the need for further research in the area of role definition
in CAMHS and to the need for further development of continuing
professional development opportunities for social workers. |
| Keywords: | CHILD
YOUNG PEOPLE
MENTAL HEALTH
SOCIAL WORKER |
| Local subject classification: | MULTIDISCIPLINARY TEAM
MULTIDISPLINARY TEAM |
| Appears in collections: | Theses
|
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