Social work collective leadership in a large urban hospital during an era of unprecedented transformational change.

This Department of Social Work Services (the Department) is one of the largest hospital social work departments in the country, with almost 600 staff, in the largest of eight hospitals and one medical school of a major health system. The Department's senior directors (three current and one former) share its innovative and effective collective leadership model that was initially developed in response to a confluence of unprecedented complex events stemming from the Covid-19 pandemic. The experiences of these co-leaders, an evaluation of the model, future internal considerations as its applicability to other health care settings will be discussed.

In the Global Epicenter: Social Work Leadership in a New York City Hospital.

The Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City was in the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic and had to transform from a tertiary to crisis care hospital and increase its bed capacity by 50 percent to care for COVID-19 patients. The size, scope, complexity and uncertainty of this crisis was unparalleled. This article describes the comprehensive response of the Department of Social Work Services, one of the largest hospital social work departments in the country. The response was informed by four Departmental principles, as well as crisis intervention strategies. This article describes organizational structures, practice models, policies, and protocols developed to respond quickly and effectively, given infection prevention mandates, to patient, population and workforce needs. Finally, it includes how social workers addressed COVID-19 related physical and psychosocial needs and applied and modified interprofessional communication and collaboration. Lessons learned and clinical and administrative changes that will assist in navigating "new normal" operations are discussed.

Creating a professional development platform to transform social work clinical practice in health care.

Since U.S. Congress' 2010 passing of the Affordable Care Act and the creation of numerous care coordination programs, Mount Sinai Hospital's Department of Social Work Services has experienced exponential growth. The Department is deeply committed to recruiting and developing the most talented social workers to best meet the needs of patients and family caregivers and to serve as integral, valued members of interdisciplinary care teams. Traditional learning methods are insufficient for a staff of hundreds, given the changes in health care and the complexity of the work. This necessitates the use of new training and education methods to maintain the quality of professional development. This article provides an overview of the Department's strategy and creation of a professional development learning platform to transform clinical social work practice. It reviews various education models that utilize an e-learning management system and case studies using standardized patients. These models demonstrate innovative learning approaches for both new and experienced social workers in health care. The platform's successes and challenges and recommendations for future development and sustainability are outlined.

The Role of Social Work Leadership: Mount Sinai Care, the Accountable Care Organization, and Population Health Management.

In July 2012, The Mount Sinai Medical Center was selected by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid to join the first cohort of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in this country under its Medicare Shared Savings Program. A critical component of an ACO is care coordination of patients, which is a complex concept, intertwined with other concepts related to quality, delivery and organization of health care. This article provides an overview of the development, structure and functionality of Mount Sinai Care, the ACO of The Mount Sinai Health System, and how it was the beginning of its work in population health management. It describes the important role of social work leadership in the development and operation of its care coordination model. The model's successes and challenges and recommendations for future development of care coordination and population health management are outlined.

Simulation-Based Continuing Education in Health Care Social Work: A Case Study of Clinical Training Innovation.

Health care social workers practice in a fast-paced, demanding work environment, and do not always have the opportunity to reflect meaningfully on their work or to practice new skills. This article describes an innovative program, the Partnership for Excellence in Social Work Practice in Health Care ("the Partnership"), which provides a professional development opportunity for health care social workers and contributes to the larger mission of providing comprehensive and coordinated care to high-risk populations. The Partnership aims to help social workers respond to the current challenges of health care practice through simulation learning as an educational reflective practice technique. Through this program, social workers at all levels of experience have the opportunity to practice real-world scenarios in a safe and structured space, receive feedback, and reflect on their skills. The Partnership utilizes professional actors who portray patients, doctors, and care partners (formal or informal caregivers) in case examples that explore key issues in the field. This enables learners to be exposed to a representative set of patient experiences, expediting the development of their skills, enhancing their competence, and facilitating the habit of ongoing reflection in practice and in the development of one's professional identity. Implications of the program for clinical social work practice and directions for future study are discussed.

The Young Women's Program: A health and wellness model to empower adolescents with physical disabilities.

BACKGROUND: This article introduces a comprehensive health and wellness program that serves young women, ages 14 to 21, with physical disabilities. The program is a component of the Initiative for Women with Disabilities (IWD), a hospital-based center serving women with physical disabilities/conditions that offers accessible gynecology, primary care, physical therapy, nutrition consultations, exercise and fitness classes, and wellness and social work services. Recent literature has shown that young women with physical disabilities often face physical and emotional barriers to their own health and wellness. This group of adolescents often has difficulty developing a healthy image of their bodies, especially compared with their able-bodied peers. Unhealthy attitudes regarding the body image and sexuality of those with physical differences are often perpetuated by the media, peers, and parents. People with disabilities have become increasingly able to live fulfilling lives in recent decades. This is due largely to studies that have confirmed that once barriers are addressed and minimized, young women with physical disabilities lead active and productive lives and have much to contribute to society. METHODS: The goal of the Young Women's Program (YWP), established in 2006, is to help young women adopt healthy lifestyles by exposing them to a carefully planned curriculum. The program provides a variety of classes and workshops, expert instruction, and access to resources and a network of peers and mentors. The ultimate goal is for the participants to apply the concepts learned in the group sessions to identify and evaluate their personal goals and develop health and wellness plans for achieving these goals. RESULTS: Data were obtained from several sources: a self-administered program evaluation, program recruitment and retention statistics, and an assessment of whether individual health and wellness goals were achieved. All of these measures indicate a favorable response to the program structure and content. Participants are able to integrate and apply the learned concepts to alter aspects of their daily lifestyles and improve their self-confidence, self-worth, and self-competence. CONCLUSIONS: The results to date suggest that the YWP addresses the transitional challenges cited in the literature that young women with physical disabilities face from adolescence to adulthood. The structure of the program, which combines individual and group sessions, and the focused content appear to have a positive impact on the participants' lives by exposing them to experiences that promote self-determination and self-competence. By providing opportunities for socialization with peers and mentors and exposure to community resources, and by helping participants to develop self-care skills and to set goals for a healthy lifestyle, the program facilitates leading an independent life. The efficacy of the YWP will be determined by annual follow-up studies as participants enter adulthood.

Empowering women with chronic, physical disabilities:a pedagogical/experiential group model.

Past research on group work in the hospital setting has focused on traditional psycho-educational support group models. This article describes an effective group model developed in the Initiative for Women with Disabilities, a hospital-based outpatient program for women with chronic physical illnesses or conditions. The group model integrates concepts of humanistic and self-psychology with pedagogical methods and experiential learning. A Women's Writing group and Women's Assertiveness group each with 10 sessions were designed and conducted according to this model. The group leader presented as a pedagogue and self-object that created a group experience that affirms humanistic values and fosters self-growth, socialization, and interpersonal change. The results of a self-administered survey suggest that the participants responded favorably to the format, structure and content of the groups, skills learned, and the identification of past and present issues.