INTERNATIONAL EXPERIENCE OF SOCIAL WORK IN THE HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

Abstract

The reform of the medical industry, the problems of medical care that arose in Ukraine in connection with the Covid-19 pandemic and led to a deterioration in the physical, psychological and social well-being of the population, sharply raised the question of the work of the medical industry and the directions for its improvement. In many countries of the world one of the ways to improve the quality of medical services is the implementation of social work in the medical industry.The article is devoted to the analysis of foreign experience of social work in the health care system, the roots of which are deeply connected with the development of modern public health in many countries of the world. Today, many social workers around the world practice health care, drawing on the historical experience of combining clinical, intermediate and population-based approaches to have a greater impact on health. However, the historical significance of this long-standing interdisciplinary collaboration and its implications remain poorly understood. The article is based on primary and modern sources of research on the history of the development of social work in the field of health care, demonstrates examples of successful cooperation between social and medical workers. The main historical stages of the development of social work in the field of health care in the USA, France, Canada, Great Britain, Bulgaria, etc. are considered. The article concludes that despite the temporal, geographical, economic, political, cultural and other differences, social work in the field of health care as an independent professional activity in different countries has common features: a focus on overcoming barriers in the environment for achieving health by individuals, their families, groups and communities; assistance in attracting resources to achieve full health of clients; perception of personality and its health as a whole; the creation of family-oriented, community-centered and consumer-driven services; the development of social work in the field of health was often facilitated by the initiative and perseverance of individuals, etc.