The Role of Medical Social Work Professional in Counselling Patients with Eye Disorders in the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital, Nigeria

Abstract

In contemporary society social work professional is always overwhelmed when trying to combine their multitasking roles with other life responsibilities such as taking care of their homes and advocating for communities and meeting up with the demanding work environment. The major problem facing modern medical social service delivery is the neglect of the psychosocial component of the treatment process. The physical component of illness is easily identified and treated but the psychosocial aspect which forms the major aspect of recovery and adjustment is not given prominence and proper attention it deserves. Medical social workers struggle in juggling the acts of life and their experience are usually impacted by the health care system but their expectations and responsibilities are most times unmet. This research work attempts to explore the extent medical social workers adapt to the demands of counselling patients with eye disorders, among other job roles and family responsibilities. Based on survey research design, thirty structured questionnaires were administered to respondents who are patients of the eye clinic. The findings indicated that patients were not happy with the time wastage experienced during routine visit to clinics. The quality of services rendered by some health professionals were unsatisfactory and very few patients knew about social work activities. Patients that came in contact with medical social workers testified that the counselling services of the eye clinic has impacted positively on them. Respondents expressed satisfaction with the social work counselling services and implored that awareness campaign should be done to give the profession the wide publicity it deserves. They see social work counselling as the most rewarding approach to prepare patients for eye operation and treatment thereafter.

Keywords: Medical social workers, counselling, eye disorder, clients, patient, counsellor.