Vad blir till hjälp? - en studie om hjälpande faktorer i sjukhuskuratorers arbete SW2226/SW2227,
The connection between body, soul and social surroundings and their influence on health has, in the western world, been known for over a hundred years. The hospital social worker with tasks within the area of the psychosocial perspective is therefore now a part of Swedish healthcare. Yet both international as well as national research and literature show that social workers have a slow professionalizationprocess and difficulties describing their area of tasks and methods. This study aims to explore hospital social workers line of work, what they believe becomes help in their work with patients and put results in relation to professionalization in the medical environment. The results are problematized from perspectives like professionality, power and role.The study includes 86 hospital social workers at Sahlgrenska Universitetssjukhuset in Gothenburg Sweden and it contains both quantitative and qualitative parts. As a start, interviews were made with four hospital social workers in the purpose to achieve information which could help create an extensive and well sharpened survey mailing. The survey mailing was sent to 86 hospital social workers and 51 answered. As a complement mailcorrespondence was held with two head hospital social workers.With obvious majority two components were singled out by the respondents as especially helpful in their work with patients; the hospital social workers knowledge and competence and the relationship between hospital social worker and patient. The effort being voluntary for the patient was also highly ranked as a helpful component. Through the results and the theoretical perspectives it is obvious that the hospital social workers daily work is influenced by vaguely formulated professional boundaries and a slow professionalizationprocess. Circumstances to be seen as obstructive are other professions level of knowledge of the hospital social workers tasks and competence and the high level of freedom of action for the hospital social worker to on their own and partly based on own preferences plan and organize their work. The study shows that there is an obvious difference in how the respondents individually spread their tasks. Despite vast knowledge of how and when help is achieved many of the respondents wish to increase or start working with evaluation.