International Journal of Innovative Research and Development

Abstract

Today’s fluctuating and composite world places increasingly superior demands on students in schools. Not only do students have academic pressures, they also face cultural, social, economic and family pressures. These pressures lead to different manifestations such as drug abuse, alcohol abuse, suicide, anti- social behaviours, dropping out of schools etc. A group of well trained counsellors with a good understand of professional skill requirement is increasingly becoming the need of the hour for Indian schools. But as far as India is concerned there are no authentic associations for school counsellors. This makes the process of identifying emerging skill requirements, enhancing these skills and monitoring the performance of counsellors very difficult. The article gives a detailed description of skills essential for the school counsellors. school counsellor’s understanding about the skill requirement in counselling. The study was conducted in schools under Central Board of Secondary Education and Kerala State Education Board in Ernakulum district, Kerala. Descriptive research design was used. Only trained counsellors in the field of social work and psychology were included in the study. It was a Census study using a sampling frame consisted of counsellors in high schools and higher secondary non-residential schools within Ernakulum district in Kerala. The population consisted of 118 school counsellors.

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Abstract

Patient welfare is the prime objective of Medical and Psychiatric Social Workers. Trained professional Social Workers contribute significantly to the well-being of patients by acting as a link between hospital team and patient and family. This study aims to describe key negotiation strategies used by the Medical and Psychiatric Social Work team and its effect on patient welfare in a tertiary care hospital. The Study was conducted among approximately 75,000 patients who had been admitted for medical and surgical interventions in a multispecialty hospital.  A structured questionnaire was used to collect the quantitative data from approximately 15,000 patients who represented the in-patients. The data had been collected for two years duration; combined quantitative and qualitative data from patients and hospital staff were used for the study. Members of Medical Social Work team were actively involved in collecting feedback from admitted patients. They discussed the same feedback with the operational team of the hospital and tried to influence the hospital policy. A collective effort led to significant improvement in patient satisfaction score. Relationship with patients and hospital management and use of research skills are essential to enhance the negotiation abilities of Social Workers in the hospital sector. Negotiation for patient welfare will help Social Workers to add values to hospital management and patient satisfaction. 

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