title: Discharge planning and social work practice.
abstract: Current health care practice discharge planning has emerged as a major professional function in hospital settings. To examine the tasks involved in discharge planning and how frequently they are being performed, 124 Alabama hospitals were contacted with a 72% rcsponse rate. Of the 178 surveys returned by discharge planners the core tasks were identified and ranked in terms of performance frequency. The results revealed that the tasks performed typically resembled that of generalist social workers. When specialization occurred, it was related to the populations served and not the specialized tasks or methods utilized. From this data recommendations are made for linking advanced generalist social work practice to discharge planning activities.
authors.affiliation: Division of Social Work, Valdosta State University, GA 31698, USA. dhollim@valdosta.edu
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Holliman
authors.forename: S F
authors.initials: SF
authors.lastname: Dziegielewski
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Datta
mesh_terms: D000407:Alabama; D019538:Health Care Surveys; D006801:Humans; D010351:Patient Discharge; D017009:Professional Autonomy; D011361:Professional Competence; D012947:Social Work / Q000458:organization & administration*; D012948:Social Work Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D013647:Task Performance and Analysis