Influences on social work time expenditure in a voluntary inpatient psychiatric unit.
This article describes a study of social work time expenditure on a voluntary inpatient psychiatric unit in an inner-city, tertiary-care, teaching hospital that serves many publicly funded patients. The study examined the influence of a number of presenting problems, individual psychosocial factors, and demographic factors. Controlling for patient length of stay, four factors were found to influence time expenditure: (1) greater number of assessed psychosocial problems, (2) Asian ethnocultural background, (3) the interactive effect of being a Medicaid recipient or having a pending Medicaid application and needing placement in a structured living situation, and (4) referrals to child protective services.
Semke
J
J
School of Social Work, University of Washington, Seattle 98195.
Stowell
M
M
Durgin
J
J
D005006:Ethnicity; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008484:Medicaid; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D011567:Psychiatric Department, Hospital; D012947:Social Work; D013997:Time Factors; D014481:United States