DEVELOPMENT OF A SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR SOCIAL WORKERS SERVING CANCER PATIENTS.
Item
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Title
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DEVELOPMENT OF A SUPPORT PROGRAM FOR SOCIAL WORKERS SERVING CANCER PATIENTS.
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Identifier
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AAI8319760
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identifier
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8319760
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Creator
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DAVIDSON, KAY WALLIS.
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Contributor
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Irwin Epstein
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Date
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1983
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Social Work
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Abstract
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This exploratory study was undertaken to determine whether a program of support would help social workers in general hospitals cope better with stresses which they experience in working with cancer patients. The need for special programs was assessed and a model program was designed and implemented.;A study of relevant research and a needs assessment survey supported the proposition that social workers serving cancer patients experience both stresses and satisfactions and that a structured program of support would enable workers to cope more effectively with stresses.;The program was implemented during 1981 at a large, voluntary, teaching hospital with an established social work department. The sample group, restricted to workers with Master's degrees, was composd of ten self-selected workers, including two whose work combined direct practice and staff supervision and four who were their supervisees.;The program consisted of nine group meetings of one and a half hours each with the investigator as leader. After the program, the support group was continued without a leader.;A formative evaluation of the project indicated that the goal of developing a model program for peer support and mutual aid was substantially achieved. A unique component of the support offered by peers was the personal disclosure and sharing which narrowed the distance between all members, including supervisors, and promoted mutual aid.;Assessment of the program's effects on participants indicated that feelings of competence were strengthened and that sensitivity and awareness of the complexity of their work, its stresses and workers' feelings were developed.;Findings of the study suggest that hospital social work departments should consider the development of programs for staff support in relation to cancer and that even departments with highly competent supervision should consider and test the value of peer groups for staff support.;This project delineated the significant stresses experienced by social workers who work with cancer patients in general hospitals, specified coping patterns used by such workers, and developed a peer support and mutual aid program that helped the workers to modify their ways of coping with highly problematic aspects of their work.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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D.S.W.
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Program
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Social Work
