The role of the social worker - modern day social worker Essay

The role of the social worker - modern day social worker - Essay Example The formalisation of this profession implies a formal academic type of initiation into it. One learns social work as a course at the university level and has several openings in the job market based on one’s aptitude and area of interest. â€Å"The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships, and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being† (IFSW, 2012). A social worker performs various roles and functions. He/She is an awareness creator, a liaison person, a facilitator, a voice for the underprivileged and much more. (S) he has the most crucial role to play, especially where the patient does not have any immediate kith and kin. The number of functions performed depends on the area where (s) he is active and the type of intervention or service required of him/her. A hospital is one such setting where social workers offer their services. The actual type of services rendered in a hospital depends on the sector in question viz. private, voluntary or statutory. Social workers have various goals in a health care organisation viz. to manage the risk involved, to develop programs for dialog, linking the community with the hospital, promoting research and education (Ontario Association of Social Workers, 2004). A person in the private sector has fewer privileges when compared to one from the government sector. Hence, the type of intervention will also differ. If a person has been the victim of an occupation hazard, the social worker faces an uphill task in giving justice to the aggrieved party. The extent to which the employee can be given compensation through legal recourse is limited. However, the social worker can make the employee aware of the state in which (s) he is and how one should adapt to the changed circumstance. This is the case even when a non-employee is forced to use hospital services due the ill-effects of the organisation concerned on the health of the former. This being the case,