Describe the following major functions of social workers in ...

[SO00]

Describe the following major functions of social workers in rehabilitation settings: counseling clients, serving as case managers, and serving as liaisons between families and agencies.
 
  What will be an ideal response?

Question 2

The ecological/systems perspective focuses on the:
 
  a. way the individual presents himself/herself in the social worker's office
  b. intra-psychic aspects of the problem as the client presents it
  c. risks and opportunities at all levels of the environment that impact the client
  d. importance of being ecologically sensitive

[cegalasso]

Answer to Question 1

Some of the major functions of social workers in rehabilitation settings are as follows:
Counseling clients: Counseling involves helping clients adjust to their disability and to the rehabilitation programs at the agency. A wide range of problems may be covered: personal, interpersonal, family, financial, vocational adjustment, and educational adjustment.
Serving as case managers: As a case manager, a social worker coordinates needed services provided by a number of agencies, organizations, or facilities to clients. A person with a disability may require extensive services and resources, including those provided by systems of health care, mental health, rehabilitation, education, housing, employment, and other related systems. Because of the pervasive needs of clients with a disability, it is vital that one of the service providers, typically a social worker, be designated as case manager. Such an arrangement assigns responsibility for planning and orchestrating the delivery of services in a systematic and timely manner. As a case manager, the worker may provide services to a client in a variety of roles, including broker, advocate, counselor, teacher, community organizer, coordinator, and planner. Case managers assess the comprehensive needs of clients, connect them to appropriate services, and ensure that those services are provided effectively.
Serving as liaisons between the family and the agency: In a rehabilitation setting, social workers generally have the responsibility to serve as liaison between the agency staff and the family. At times a worker arranges meetings between the staff and the family to discuss the client's disability, factors affecting rehabilitation, and future plans and services. In a hospital setting, it is the physician's responsibility to explain the particular medical condition to the client, but a social worker often discusses the implications of the medical condition with the client and the family. To be an effective liaison, a social worker in a rehabilitative setting needs a basic knowledge of a variety of medical conditions and of medical terminology as well as an awareness of the implications of these medical conditions for emotional, physical, and social functioning.

Answer to Question 2

c