A Study On The Medical Social Work Volunteer Service In Guangzhou

Nowadays, for China, it is undergoing a critical period of medical and health system reform and establishing harmonious doctor-patient relationship. The medical model is transforming from the "biological- medicine" to the "biological- psychological- social". The patient goes to hospital, besides of medical treatment, whose social and psychological problems should be also taken seriously enough. Therefore, medical social work should be an integral part of medical care system.Medical social work is one of professional social work. In general hospital, it is a professional service activity to improve the medical effect, that social worker can use themselves social work value concept, professional knowledge, methods and skills to assist patient and their family to fight disease, to harmonize doctor-patient relationship, to explore the social resources and to make the medical process smoothly with medical staffs.However, in Guangzhou, and even in China, the medical social work started late. There is little relevant system research, practice or any government policy support. Lots of realistic and serious problems restrict professional development of the medical social work. For instance, the medical social workers face low pay, no permanent staff, no fixed position in hospital, no specific responsibility, no professional and technical titles evaluation and so on. These can be summarized to salary welfare treatment problem, social states problem and personnel distribution problem. Yet, during 2009 to 2012, an activity called “volunteer service in hospital” have had been carried out by eight ministries including ministry of health. In this activity the medical volunteers, one branch of medical volunteer, had done most of medical social work in hospital. According to social and psychological needs of patients, they provided their service to patients and frontline clinical staffs. They also made positive contributions to ease the doctor-patient relationship and to meet the patient diverse needs.Thus, this article makes the questionnaire survey data analysis, literature research, expert interviews and other research methods on the general situation, medical social work, medical volunteer service construction and operation management, in addition, it supplies the status of medical social work and voluntary service in Guangzhou, and then to find out the factors influencing the development of medical social work volunteer service. In the following using public management theory, draw lessons from the hospital domestic and abroad, whose medical social work volunteer service is experience of effective practice, in order to promote the development of medical social work volunteer service in Guangzhou. Some measures and suggestions are proposed to research the medical social volunteer service work according to professional social workers as a guide and volunteer medical social work service as a main body.