Social Work for Adult Mental Health Services
Social workers are professionals who support other people to improve their lives. Social work with adults involves taking care of adults who are suffering from certain conditions. These may include older adults, adult mental health, physical disability, and learning disability services. About 16% of the British population experience a common mental health disorder at any given time. About 4% live with a serious mental illness. Around 700,000 people have dementia (Gould, 2010). This paper will touch on social work for adult mental health services.
Organizations and Professionals Involved
Organizations
Providers of adult mental care services in the UK fall broadly under two groups: the National Health Service(NHS) trusts and independent mental health providers (IMHP). An NHS trust is a department within the NHS that operates within a particular geographical location or provides a specific service. As of 2017, there were 54 NHS trusts and 221 IMHPs. (Care Quality Commission, 2017). These institutions work under regulatory bodies that oversee their operations. Health and safety executive (HSE) is one of them, but the central regulator is the Care Quality Commission (CQC).
HSE is the body responsible for regulating health and workplace safety in the UK. All the private and public health and social care settings are under HSE in Great Britain (Health and Safety Executive, n.d.). CQC is another body whose mandate is to oversee health services to ensure they meet the stipulated quality and safety requirements. The CQC provides guidelines on what quality standards are to be expected by all the players in the health sector (Care Quality Commission, n.d.). They have the power to take action if they find non-compliance with the set standards.
CQC has a department dealing specifically with mental health. All social care workers must be registered with the CQC after meeting the necessary legal requirements and stipulated quality and safety standards. CQC also visits people whose rights are restricted under the Mental Health Act. When they visit such people, they ask them about their experiences, ensure they are aware of their rights, and check that the Mental Health Act is being followed properly by those caring for them. There are many other charitable organizations dealing with mental health, and all of them are under HSE and CQC.
Professionals Involved
There are many medical professionals involved in taking care of mentally ill adults. These include doctors, community mental health teams, key workers, community mental health nurses, community mental health pharmacists, counselors, health visitors, psychiatrists, psychologists, social workers, and approved social workers. The social workers involved in mental health care are called approved mental health professionals (AMHP). These are supposed to offer assistance to patients per the Mental Health Act. They can assess if a person requires mandatory detention or not. It is their responsibility to ensure all rights of the patient have been fulfilled. (nidirect, n.d.).
These professionals work in coordination. For example, if a mentally ill person requires the services of several of them, he or she can recruit the services of only the key worker who consults the rest of the professionals on behalf of him/her.
Legislative Framework
Mental Health Act (1953)
In mental health services, social workers are supposed to get the necessary qualifications linked to the mental health act of 1983 or the mental capacity act. (Health Education, England, n.d.). The health act of 1983 is the primary legislation that governs the assessment, treatment, and rights of patients with a mental illness. The act allows people to be detained even without their consent. For people with mental illness that are a risk to themselves, detention may be urgent, and force may be used to arrest them (National Health Service, 2019). Treatment can also be applied without consent. The patient can only be allowed to leave the hospital only with the clinician’s permission under their care.
According to the act, the patient may receive visitors. Visiting hours depend on the hospital. In some cases, the patient may refuse visitors. In such instances, visitors won’t be allowed to see the patient. Doctors may collaborate with family members or relatives on the treatment plan where necessary. Hospital accommodation is segregated adequately, according to gender.
Mental Capacity Act
The mental capacity act (MCA) is meant to cover persons who cannot decide for themselves about care and treatment. It applies to persons over 16 years of age. These decisions range from what to wear to more serious ones like when to have surgery. The act covers those who may be suffering from illnesses or conditions such as dementia, learning difficulties, brain problems, mental sickness, stroke, and unconsciousness due to accident or anesthesia (National Health Service, 2018). The MCA allows a person to have someone decide for them if they lack the capacity to do so later. An advocate may also be involved in certain situations, such as where serious treatment is needed.
Theories That Might Apply
Some of the social workers’ theories that can apply in working for adult mental health are the psychosocial, psychodynamic, transpersonal, soul learning, and systems theories. Psychosocial theory dwells on the way the social environment influences people. Psychodynamic theory attempt to find out why people do what they do. The transpersonal theory uses models such as saints, heroes, and artists to inspire people to have more strong identities. The social learning theory deals with the influence of the environment on people behavior and suggests that people can act according to what they observe (Campbellsville University, 2017)
Risks, Harm and Abuse faced by social workers
The role of social workers in mental health care is complicated. It involves dealing with different people who have different interests. Social workers face the challenge of acquainting themselves with the social and legal context in which they operate. They need to build relationships with individuals surrounding them to gain knowledge, which they then use to evaluate risks and opportunities that people face and come up with the necessary interventions (Allen et al., 2016).
According to Limon, social workers face several other problems (2018). Social health workers are sometimes required to work long hours. This may eventually cause burn out. Sometimes there is too much workload for them such that they end up having fatigue and emotional distress. In some cases, a social worker may lack time to attend to duties assigned to him or her. Another major challenge is the fact that mental health patients might turn out to be very difficult to deal with. Some may be violent or do unethical acts leaving the social worker frustrated and helpless.
Conflicts
Generally, social workers do encounter several conflicts in their line of duty. They do not always have to agree with the people they serve and the society at large. For example, should a social worker receive gifts from clients? This is a complicated case. Certain factors are to be considered before making the decision. If the worker refuses the gift, it may hurt the client. But integrity requires that a healthy boundary is maintained between the worker and the client. So it becomes a dilemma. Or a minor client requests the social worker not to confide something important to his or her parents, yet the law requires that you not only report to the parent but also the department of social services. If you report the minor, that might diminish the child’s trust from that time onwards. But integrity requires that you follow the laid down ethical guidelines (MSWguide.org. n.d.).
These conflicts or ethical dilemmas can be resolved by taking specific steps. The social worker can consult the code of ethics to determine which guidelines are applicable in each situation and come up with a solution. Social workers should be conversant with the laws to be aware when they are just about to overstep the boundaries. Social workers can seek a second opinion before making the final decision. No matter how much experienced, sometimes a second opinion is inevitable.
Conclusion
Social workers dealing with mental health care services have many challenges to meet. However, the government has put proper organizational and legal frameworks to ensure that the activities they carry out in their line of duty run smoothly. Risks and conflicts involved in the social worker’s working environment can be resolved by consulting the relevant ethical guidelines provided by the medical profession.