Medical and psychiatric social work
The practice of social work has been extended to the fields of medicine and psychiatry. These are: medical social work and psychiatric social work. Medical social work is an extension of medical practice on the one hand, and social work on the other. Its purpose is to help sick people. Its method, according to Cherry Morris, “is to apply the general principles of casework to the medical setting to assist the doctor in his task of diagnosing and treating illness”.
On the other hand, psychiatry is an extension of social work. In hospitals and clinics, the principles of social casework assist the psychiatrist in treating the mental and emotional illness of the client. Although in both fields the caseworker works in close collaboration with highly skilled clinicians of other professions, it would appear that “ultimate responsibility” for the treatment of the client is, in both cases, placed on the doctor or psychiatrist and that the role of the caseworker is reduced to secondary importance.
However, the role of the caseworker, properly understood and properly characterized, goes far beyond simply assisting the doctor or psychiatrist or providing him with staff services; As “enabling function,” it goes far beyond these narrow limits and helps the client adjust to the total environment. It attempts to improve the environment, and thus helps the situation achieve a higher level of equilibrium.