Skip Navigation

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (2)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by McLeod, E.
Right arrow Articles by Cooke, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

British Journal of Social Work (2003) 33, 787-802
© 2003 British Association of Social Workers

Social Work in Accident and Emergency Departments: A Better Deal for Older Patients' Health?

Eileen McLeod, Paul Bywaters and Matthew Cooke

Eileen McLeod is Reader in Social Work, School of Health and Social Studies, and Co-Director, Centre for Research in Health, Medicine and Society, University of Warwick.

Paul Bywaters is Professor of Social Work and Director, Centre for Social Justice, Coventry University.

Matthew Cooke is Reader in Emergency Care, School of Health and Social Studies, University of Warwick and Consultant in Accident and Emergency Medicine, University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire, NHS Trust, Coventry.

Correspondence to Eileen McLeod, School of Health and Social Studies, University of Warwick, Coventry CV4 7AL, UK.

Summary

Well-established internationally, the current development of social work in UK accident and emergency (A&E) departments is part of a conjoint health/social care policy drive to divert older people from ‘unnecessary’ admission to acute hospital care on social grounds. However, from older service users' standpoint, the prime criterion for assessing A&E social work is not its powers of diversion, but its contribution to optimum health and social care. Our account indicates that A&E based social work can provide important benefits, including help with negotiating the A&E environment and readier access to social services. Nevertheless, continuing professional–service user power imbalances, together with shortages in health and social care services, undermine its positive contribution both within A&E and following discharge. Notably, under-resourced community based health and social care can lead to services implemented through A&E, swiftly unravelling. This has serious consequences for older service users facing interlinked health and social problems, and may be implicated in re-attendance at A&E.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Br J Soc WorkHome page
E. McLeod, P. Bywaters, D. Tanner, and M. Hirsch
For the Sake of their Health: Older Service Users' Requirements for Social Care to Facilitate Access to Social Networks Following Hospital Discharge
Br. J. Soc. Work, January 1, 2008; 38(1): 73 - 90.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 Br J Soc WorkHome page
J. Keene and X. Li
A Study of a Total Social Services Care Population and its Inter-Agency Shared Care Populations
Br. J. Soc. Work, October 1, 2005; 35(7): 1145 - 1161.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.