Saturday, 15 January 2005 - 12:00 PM

This presentation is part of: Poster Session II

Financial Support for Low-Income Patients and the Hospital Social Worker's Role in Korea

Purposes: This study explores two issues related to the hospital social worker's role in Korea. The first deals with whether organizational and patients' characteristics affect the primary roles of hospital social workers. This study assumes that in public hospitals, where a majority of patients are financially disadvantaged, locating and connecting financial resources is a major role of the social worker. Secondly, this study examines what factors influence the decision making of social workers on the financial resource allocations for the patients in need. It assumes that the provision of financial support is influenced by organizational and departmental factors as well as the patients' characteristics.

Methods: Official documents of a public hospital in Seoul, Korea were examined and compared with those of a private hospital from the same area in order to analyze the organizational mission of the hospital, the characteristics of patients, and the primary role of the social worker. In addition, information of approximately 180 case records were coded and analyzed by using the logistic regression model to explore what factors influence the social worker's decision on financial support for the low-income patients who cannot afford to pay medical costs.

Results: This study found that the social worker provided more financial support than psycho-social support which most hospital social workers in Korea have generally regarded as the most important service for clients. This finding reflected the assumption that the public hospital's mission and the major needs of patients be considered in the discussion of social workers' roles. In addition, this study suggested that referral source, professional opinions of social workers, and individual characteristics of patients influenced the provision of financial support for the patients, using voluntary funds developed by hospital staffs.

Implications: In spite of the limitation of this sample drawn from a single public hospital, this study has practical and academic implications not only for social workers, but also for researchers in the area of hospital social work in Korea. The results provide empirical data on clients who visited social workers in this public hospital so that hospital social workers in Korea can establish their practice plans with consideration of this empirical data. Also, this study broadened the range of discussion on social workers' roles from the individual to organizational level.

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