Social Work in Health Care: What Have We Achieved?

Summary: Social work in health care has been established for more than 100 years and has developed into a major sector of the profession in countries around the world. This article reports on a Delphi exercise aimed at exploring the achievements of social work in health care in a variety of countries, as judged by a team of expert practitioners and academics. Findings: Twenty key accomplishments were identified. Two of them received particularly high ratings: achieving recognition and legitimacy, and effecting a change in the models of illness and health. Three others - knowledge development, direct interventions with patients and development of culturally appropriate interventions - also received high marks. Applications: The findings are quite consistent with the social work literature, indicating the benefits to be gained from international cooperation and collaboration.