title: Single contacts with hospital social workers: the clients' experiences.
abstract: Decreasing lengths of stay in acute hospitals result in social workers often being unable to engage in planned interventions with clients over a number of sessions. Single session work is a reality for much social work practice. This article reports on a qualitative study of clients' experiences of a single contact with a social worker in a hospital setting. Building on prior research on hospital social workers' experiences of single session work, the study found that rapport building, empathy, non-judgmentalism, practical assistance, and advocacy are important features of the social work role in the intense and time limited context of single session hospital social work.
authors.affiliation: School of Humanities & Social Sciences, The University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW, Australia.
authors.forename: Jill
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.forename: Debbie
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Plath
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002983:Clinical Competence; D004645:Empathy; D005260:Female; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011369:Professional-Patient Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012948:Social Work Department, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D013997:Time Factors