The demographics of the United States haemophilia treatment centre social workers: the results of a national survey

Defining the micro and macro roles of a hemophilia treatment center social worker in the United States from an interdisciplinary team perspective

INTRODUCTION

The social worker (SW) role in the Hemophilia Treatment Center (HTC) is complex and broad, providing direct support, spanning across micro, mezzo and macro levels of care.

AIM

Research demonstrates discrepancy between actual and ideal SW roles among the HTC SW community. Soliciting perceptions from HTC staff about the SW role can provide a deeper understanding of this discrepancy and improve collaboration amongst care team members in meeting the psychosocial needs of HTC patients.

METHODS

Funded by the National Hemophilia Foundation (NHF), a national online survey was conducted in 2020 to determine the views and attitudes of what the SW role is by HTC staff. Separate surveys were emailed to active HTC SWs and staff to collect anonymous data. Demographics of SWs gathered included age, education, years of practice, full time equivalent (FTE) status, and caseload. All disciplines were asked questions about perceptions, barriers, and potential ways to enhance and strengthen the SW role within HTCs.

RESULTS

Results demonstrated that subcategory-oriented questions (40 in total) and qualitative responses highlighted diverse viewpoints and offered clarity about these differences.

CONCLUSION

Findings indicated most HTC staff value the multi-faceted role of SW at their centres, and both groups identified time, limited resources, and role confusion as barriers to utilizing SW services. Outcomes will inform the development of a "standards of practice" tool that will provide education for HTC staff, patients, and families, and serve as an empowerment tool for SW to highlight their skillset and define their role.

The actual and ideal roles of haemophilia treatment centre social workers in the United States and the barriers to ideal roles

INTRODUCTION

Social Workers (SWs) provide valuable services on multidisciplinary teams of Haemophilia Treatment Centres (HTCs). However, their roles have not been defined and standardized. This paper identifies six major SW roles, including counselling, case management, financial/insurance, outreach/programs, administrative, and grants/research. Roles were further classified as 'actual' roles, those that SWs were actively practicing, and 'ideal' roles, those that SWs felt were most important for their clients.

AIM

The goal of this study was to determine the actual and ideal roles of HTC SWs and the barriers to ideal roles.

METHODS

An online survey was tested with a focus group and then e-mailed to 147 SWs who were working in the 141 HTCs across the United States.

RESULTS

Fifty-five percent of the SWs completed the survey. Data revealed that SWs' most prominent actual role was case management in their work with three client sub-populations: adult patients, paediatric patients and family members. However, SWs identified counselling as the ideal role that was most important for all client groups. Barriers to practicing ideal roles included lack of SW input, insufficient budgeted time and inadequate training. Salaries were found to be stagnant compared to 2010. Twenty-five percent of SWs reported no supervision.

CONCLUSIONS

Survey results gave evidence that although HTC SWs were primarily engaged in case management roles, they wanted to take on larger counselling roles. Efforts should be made to eliminate barriers to ideal SW roles so that SWs can provide additional psychosocial services for HTC patients.