Social workers in integrated health care: Improving care throughout the life course

Abstract

Great strides have been made in highlighting the strengths of the social work profession as a workforce vital to improving the health and well-being of individuals, families, and communities. Nevertheless, substantially more work is needed to advance education, practice, and research involving social workers’ potential and their contributions to improved care throughout the life course. This special issue offers exemplars of the power of social work in integrated settings with the capacity to address the scope of behavioral health, psychosocial, and physical health care needs. In today’s rapidly evolving heath care context, integrated care represents a promising direction for the future of health services, and may be leveraged to improve population health across the life course. Papers selected for this special issue focused on two themes: (a) defining the expanding roles and functions social workers fulfill in integrated health settings, and (b) identifying organizational and system factors that affect social workers’ delivery of interventions in integrated health models. This special issue further articulates the added-value of social workers on health care teams and the resulting improved outcomes for patients, families, and communities. Through increased evidence, such as the knowledge gained from this special issue, it is our hope that the profession continues to advance the boundary-spanning roles and capabilities of social workers in integrated health settings—both in the hospital and in community-based settings.