Addressing the social determinants of health: social workers as key players in integrated care
Authors: Feryn Nele , Taels Brent , Boost Didier 
Published: January 2024

Organizing health care requires addressing the social determinants of health, broadly defined as the social, economic, and environmental factors that influence health outcomes. However, this is often beyond the scope, expertise, and time of medical professionals. As a result, there is an increasing tendency towards interprofessional collaboration in general, with the involvement of social workers in specific. Given the profession’s expertise in ameliorating social problems with respect to different areas of  life, social workers are well-equipped to address social determinants in health care settings. In practice, however, the position, roles, and added value of social work are still rather ambiguous and unclear. It is therefore necessary to generate theoretical grounding and empirical evidence on the role of social work in diverse health care settings. The aim of this workshop is twofold. First, we will present the current state-of-the-art in the literature. Second, we will initiate a dialogue to reflect on the meaning and potential of social work in diverse health care systems. In this way, we want to establish an international dialogue aimed at the exchange of differences and similarities. We would like to engage with both healthcare providers (general practitioners, paramedics, …) as well as policy makers and researchers.

The workshop consists of three parts. First, the researchers will introduce the topic. Second, participants will be divided into groups and provided with questions related to a case study. The researchers will join these groups to facilitate and summarize the discussion. Third, the researchers will briefly present their own research findings on the following subthemes:

1) The perception of social work and search for collaboration according to general practitioners in Flanders (Nele Feryn)

Through semi-structured interviews, general practitioners were asked about the impact of social problems in their practice, their views on social work, collaboration and perceived barriers to shape this cooperation.

2) The transformative potential of social workers in Doctors of the World (Didier Boost)

Based on a critical realist evaluation, the role of social workers in Doctors of the World is explored in Antwerp, Belgium. Doctors of the World, an international humanitarian NGO, aims to realize the right to health(care) for vulnerable communities without access to regular care. In addition to the direct provision of emergency and long-term medical care, the organization strives for structural change and advocates for social justice. This practice can potentially provide an ‘enabling niche’ that aligns with the rights-based focus of the social work profession.

3) The involvement of social workers in Flemish palliative care settings (Brent Taels)

Through survey questionnaires and focus groups, social workers in Flemish primary and secondary care settings were asked about their involvement in palliative care and the level of appreciation they receive from other care professionals. These findings form the basis for the future development of an intervention to extend the role of social workers in this field.

Time schedule: 10 min. introduction + 15 min. of groupwork  + 10 min. plenary discussions + 20 min. presentations of the subthemes + 5 min. closing discussion