It is generally accepted that spirituality can play an important role in the end stage of the life of a person. Spirituality can provide a source of comfort and guidance and in so doing be a coping strategy. Social workers should take into account this spiritual component of their work particularly with clients who use spirituality as a form of social support. This thesis provides a theoretical understanding of spiritual based practice. It identifies the principles and competencies central to this practice, including the need for worker self awareness. It then illustrates how certain social work students have applied these principles in their practice with dying clients. / The author's own identification as an individual from a religiously oriented Muslim country is used to illustrate the importance of understanding and working from the world view of clients. The author concludes that spirituality should not be ignored by social workers in their practice.

Thesis (M. Soc. Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992.

Thesis (M.S.W.)--University of Hong Kong, 1993. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves [72]-75).

Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 65-67).

Thesis (M.A.)--Carleton University, 1996. / Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1992. / Also available in print.

Thesis (MTech (Public management))--Cape Technikon, Cape Town, 2004 / The evolution of the South African health system has been characterised by inequities, imbalances as well as fragmentation. The unification of South Africa in 1910 did not consolidate public health administration, which was characterised by increasing institutionalisation, professionalism and organisation. This was the status-quo up until after 1990, whereby there were marked efforts and endeavours to effect defragmentation. In the context of the dramatic political changes that the country has seen over recent years, many aspects of local health care have been upgraded. Issues such as policy making and planning, the development of human resources and training for health care and the establishment of health systems and structures requires a different approach from the previous. Effective human resources development and management in consultation with communities, can contribute towards improvement of service delivery around health issues. Personnel matters and skills development should be considered in the exercise to boost employee morale and job satisfaction. The challenge facing South Africa has been to design a comprehensive programme to redress social and economic injustices, to eradicate poverty, increase efficiency and reduce waste. In the health sector this has been ongoing to involve the complete transformation of the national health care delivery system and the relevant institutions. Health care workers jointly, require the right skills, knowledge and expertise with attitude in their duties and obligation to serve the community.

Medical social workers from health care institutions in the urban lower mainland of British Columbia were asked about their views, values and practice regarding passive and active euthanasia. This qualitative, exploratory study focused on the attitudes, values and structures that influence professional social work practice with clients requesting euthanasia. During the months of August to November, 1994, seventeen medical social workers, who were experienced in this area, were interviewed. An interview guide format was used that was previously tested in a pilot study of this project. Within the pre-selected categories; views, values and practice, responses were described and emerging themes were identified through content analysis. The study results confirm medical social workers are playing an active professional role with terminally-ill patients, families and staff when requests are made for euthanasia in the health care system. In this study population, in most cases, the social worker's views, whether for or against euthanasia, did not determine his/her practice with patients. Instead, it was the social worker's willingness to give up his/her control in the patient/professional relationship in an effort to support the patient's decision to die with dignity. This practice was based on the value of patient self-determination being paramount against all other interests. Self-determination was ranked as the most influential factor in determining practice by most of the participants. Responses revealed there was a lack of understanding by health care professionals at all levels regarding the process of separating personal values from the professional obligation to respect patient self-determination. Feminist medical ethics suggests that all health care professionals need to engage in self-evaluation to address any need they may have for power and control in the professional/patient relationship. Furthermore, medical social workers should recognize their own such needs, particularly when their personal views and values come into conflict with a patient's decision regarding euthanasia. This study not only presents the issues of power and control that social workers and other health care professsionals experience in the medical system, it also explores and describes the contributions social workers have made in their practice with patients who request the right to die with dignity. / Arts, Faculty of / Social Work, School of / Graduate

The aim of this study is to determine the effect of two approaches of social work intervention, a continuity approach, and a team approach, upon the three dependent variables of subject satisfaction, control, and mood. In order to determine differences in outcome, subjects were administered psychological tests to determine changes in their reported sense of control and mood (hopelessness) in relation to their response to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. At follow-up, subjects also completed a questionnaire designed to determine their satisfaction with social work services received. The amount of time spent in contact with social workers was also assessed at this time. The analysis of the relationship between these variables revealed that there were no statistically significant differences between the study groups; subjects were equally satisfied with the two approaches in social work intervention, and there were no major differences between the reported changes in mood and control by the subjects in the study groups. / Medicine, Faculty of / Population and Public Health (SPPH), School of / Graduate

M.A. (Social Work) / Etzioni (1964) states that our society is an organisational society. We are born in an organisation, educated by organisations and most of us spend much of our lives working for organisations. Work (including the work environment) and the family are critical factors in the life of an individual. These factors provide a sense of identity to the individual and also provide the values and.position of the individual in the community. Interdependence exists between the individual, his work and his family. Demands can be placed on the individual in the workplace or by his family that might have a negative influence on his productivity in the work environment. A primary research study was done to determine the nature of social work in a government institution, JG Strijdom hospital. This hospital functions as a bureaucratic institution. The sample of the study included all the departments in the hospital. The research sample was drawn from the variety of professional- to nonprofessional groups that are found in the hospital, these groups were subjected to a questionnaire containing the different factors pertaining to what might have a negative influence on the employee in the work place. The analyses of the results were done by grouping the primary and the secondary functions of the hospital. The primary function of the hospital can be described as patient care and the secondary function is the administration of the organization. The objectives of these two roles can clash in a certainarea where the human skills that are needed for the two different functions differ. These differences had an influence on the research results and subsequent requirements of a social workerin the workplace. The primary difference that was determined in this study was that the primary function was staffed by personnel that required assistance in self development. On the other hand the personnel of the secondary (administrative) function required assistance with their personal problems. The severity of the differences can be attributed to the present state of flux in the hospital. The hospital is in a state of merging with the Coronation hospital and a pending threat of affirmative action is hanging over the hospital.