CLIENTS VIEWS OF SOCIAL-WORK SERVICES IN THE HOSPITAL SETTING IN ISRAEL

Client appraisals of social work services are likely affected by the s etting in which care is offered. This paper examines clients' assessme nts of social work services received in the acute care hospital settin g. It is based on interviews with 120 discharged hospital social work clients, and investigates their definition of their psychosocial probl ems, their expectations from the social work department and their appr aisal of the outcomes of the social work intervention. Main findings i nclude the dominance of instrumental needs among the psychosocial prob lems cited by clients, while emotional relief was the most prevalent o utcome. A general lack of clarity regarding expectations was observed. The findings are discussed in light of organizational and methodologi cal issues which might influence the examination of clients' assessmen ts.