The utterly basic and seemingly naive question ‘what do social workers do?’ is necessary to consider. Having worked as a social worker for years, one has to agree with such an assessment – the profession’s responsibilities are truly broad and significant. You are the voice, the helper, and the system amid diverse difficulties that affect people, families, and the larger societies. Your main concern is to foster change in the society and speak up for your client in an endeavour to get adequate provisions for her proper functioning.
Some of the core fundamentals of your work cut through your interactions with clients involved in building trust (ER, 2020). A social worker should be in a position to evaluate the patients’ requirements and implement appropriate treatment interventions in a secure atmosphere. It is all about making the clients independent and supporting them in their challenging period with their career in community care.
You are also involved in making and evaluating decisions regarding treatment and preventive steps for people and the society. Your consultations are thus beyond the presenting complaints but involve the root causes of such difficulties. If the root causes are addressed, one can change the undesirable situation surgically and enhance the well-being of the population.
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The Diversity with Regards to Different Specialisations in Social Work
In social work there are areas of practice and various specialised fields which one can pursue. Here are three key specialisations:
Micro Social Work: This specialisation implies a direct contact with the people, couples or families with certain problems. In your capacity as a micro social worker, you work on aspects of people’s mental health, their behaviour, and interpersonal interactions. It will be helpful to you if you are in private practice or if you’re employed in agencies where counselling is offered. You can even opt for social work essay writing service with your academic projects easily.
Mezzo Social Work: Specialising in a mezzo level, social works address a common problem at the group level, conduct group sessions and work using mixed methods extensively. This could include sponsoring support groups, and community education and; awareness creating forums. Organizational work to detail and the ability to switch from one task to another are two qualities prominent in mezzo-social work.
Macro Social Work: Macro social workers operate on a wider lens by dealing with community organization, administration and policy development. That is why their objective is changing systems in order to make the communities and cultures better. This specialisation entails working with legislative bodies and other entities to implement risky social programmes for change.
What does a Social Worker do?
The role of a social worker therefore involves grouping different responsibilities aimed at improving the lives of the clients and society in general (TimesPro). Here are some key responsibilities in social work:
- Explaining the process of evaluating the client, their needs, and the circumstances through meetings and collecting information.
- Constructing treatment strategies and recommending clients to the specialists or other sources in case of necessity.
- This can be in the form of weekly and monthly review of clients’ activity to measure their progress as well as recording their progress in their respective case files.
- About being an advocate for clients and the awareness of the community needs.
- Working with the political and other bureaucratic authority and institutions for the positive change of the society through social programs.
How to Become a Social Worker: Practical Competencies Which Can Enable One to Succeed
Thus, it will be pertinent to point out that aspiring social workers should possess certain skills in order to be effective in the positions they undertake. These skills will enable you to practice the medical/nursing activities with an eye on cultural differences and meet the needs of the targeted individuals. Some key skills include:
Cultural Competence: Therefore, it is vital to appreciate the differences, including cultural ones, and how they affect one’s mental and emotional state to be able to establish rapport with culturally diverse clients.
Strong Communication: Assertiveness, interpersonal communication, and empathy are important in the creation of harmonious and professional relationships with clients as well as in lobbying for the clients’ requirements with other personnel.
Counselling and Coaching: Coaching, enfranchising, and encouraging are the core strategies of social work practice. The fundamental concepts of counselling and coaching involve enabling people to actualize change in their daily lives.
Active Listening: Active listening helps a person to not only hear but to understand the issues that are on the client’s mind, their pain, and their goals. It also assists in the collation of essential information which aids in the formulation of the premised differential treatment plans.
Specialisations within Social Work
In the specialty of social work there are many options when it comes to choosing a specialized section concerning a particular group of clients or field of practice. Here are some examples:
Clinical Social Work: This specialisation entails offering of some counselling and therapy treatments for substance dependency, mental disorder and or learning disability. Positions of professional clinical social workers include; private practices, hospitals, mental health facilities or any other healthcare facilities.
Child, Family or School Social Work: These social workers focus in helping children and families in school, home, and in community. They deal with child well-being and care; they are employed by schools, governmental institutions or foster care centers.
Medical and Public Health Social Work: Social workers in this specialisation manage medical issues of clients who have health issues or persistent diseases. They manage healthcare operations and public funds and find employment in hospitals, different levels of government or healthcare facilities.
Mental Health and Substance Abuse Social Work: These social workers offer psychotherapy, reclamation and advising to-dependent individuals who have drug dependence problems or those experiencing mental disorders.
Community Social Work: Professional municipal and advanced community social workers pay their efforts to the plans of social relevance of specified areas of communities such as neighbourhoods or cities.
Conclusion
Social work position entails the proper change for human beings and management of their rights in the society. This paper examines how a social worker’s skills of developing rapport, needs assessment, intervention and stakeholder engagement shape the context for change.
It is, therefore necessary to maintain the education and professional development as cardinal in executing social work. This is an important message to entry and advanced level social workers and others social justice advocates, that investing in one’s education and acquiring more skills may increase the ability of social workers and by extension society to promote social justice.
References
TimesPro. Exploring the role of social worker: Know the skills & specialisations | TimesPro blog. (n.d.). TimesPro. https://timespro.com/blog/a-guide-on-social-workers-roles-and-responsibilitiesER (2020). How to Make Progress on Your Goals When You Feel Unmotivated? https://eazyresearch.com/blog/how-to-make-progress-on-your-goals-when-you-feel-unmotivated/
