Browsing by Author "Silence, Estelle"

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    The significance of social work supervision in the Department of Healh, Western Cape: Social workers experiences
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2017-03) Silence, Estelle; Engelbrecht, L. K.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Social Work.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The profession of social work originated in the 19th century in England, as a means to address social deterioration caused by poverty. Supervision was used as a means to teach lay persons how to perform social work tasks, hence the reason why some experts in the field question the need for its continuance, as social work is a profession implying that once you qualify as a social worker you no longer need a more experienced person to guide your practice. The practise of social work is however governed by an ethical code of practice and legal prescripts which states that social workers can only be supervised by qualified social workers. Within the Department of Health, social workers are employed at health facilities where they have no access to social work supervisors. They are managed by other medical professionals or allied health staff, but not a social worker. This study therefore endeavoured to explore if social workers believe that social work supervision is still needed in the Department of Health by exploring the significance of social work supervision. This was done within the framework of understanding the practice of social workers, the organisational context of health services and the developments that have taken place within social work supervision over the last few decades. The researcher applied a qualitative research approach and as such, semi structured interviews was the data collection instrument which was used to gain a detailed picture of the participants’ beliefs on this topic. The research aimed to elicit the experiences of the significance of supervision by social workers and as such, one-on-one interviewing allowed for a more meaningful interaction between the researcher and participants. For the study, 17 production social workers in the Department of Health, Western Cape were interviewed. The study comprises of two literature chapters outlining the Department of Health as an employer of social workers, the functioning of interdisciplinary teams within this structure, as well as the profession of social work. The last literature chapter covers the role of social work within health and provides an overview of the writings of academics, on the significance of social work supervision within the practice of the profession, but not Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za iii necessarily specific to a health service. The 4th chapter is the empirical study and chapter 5 is the findings and conclusions of the research. The conclusions drawn from the findings identified social work supervision as being significant to equip, develop and provide support to the social work practice within health services. No distinction was drawn between the need for junior versus more senior social workers regarding supervision. Social work supervision is a strong indicator for quality service. The primary recommendation is for the provision of access to social work supervision for social workers employed in the Department of Health.