Social work in the Veterans Health Administration (VA) System: rewards, challenges, roles and interventions.

For the social worker in the Veterans Health Administration (VA) System, numerous challenges are faced and met while serving the nation's Veterans. As part of the multidisciplinary team, social workers perform a variety of tasks and function in diverse roles. The qualitative survey research reported in this article sought to detail what social workers identified about the impact and rewards of their work and what they saw as the challenges and frustrations. In addition the social workers were asked to clarify their role with the patient and the family. Intervention strategies used in the course of the social workers interaction with the Veterans was also ascertained.

Social work in the Veterans Administration hospital system: impact of the work.

Social workers in the Veterans Administration (VA) hospital system are faced with numerous challenges to best address the ongoing health and mental health needs of those who serve in the military. Social workers in the VA system serve diverse roles on the multidisciplinary medical teams and mental health services and are integral to the VA hospital environment. Most social workers feel positive about their work and their contributions to the care of the military. Despite positive feelings about their work, social workers are also prone to compassion fatigue and burnout as the work, especially with returning veterans from Afghanistan/Iraq, often extracts a toll. This article details the experience of social workers in the VA hospital system; it describes the impact of the work on the social workers, noting levels of compassion satisfaction, compassion fatigue, and burnout.

Women and men who have served in Afghanistan/Iraq: coming home.

The experience of war changes people - some will acknowledge that the changes are positive and some will feel the opposite or a combination, but that it changes a person cannot be disputed. For those who return, the experience of reintegration to civilian life or as a respite before redeployment can present numerous challenges. The research presented in this article reports the findings on interviews with over 800 service members who had returned from either Afghanistan or Iraq. The Post Deployment Reintegration Scale was used to refine the areas that respondents identified as positive or negative in their reintegration experience. Implications for practice with returning service members are noted.

Social work in the Department of Defense hospital: impact, role, and interventions.

For the social worker in the Department of Defense hospital numerous challenges are faced and met while serving the nation's wounded. As an integral part of the multidisciplinary medical team, social workers perform vital services and function in diverse roles. The survey research reported in this article details some of the roles and functions performed by social workers, noting the impact, challenges, and rewards they identified when considering their work. In addition, various intervention modalities that the social workers utilize on a regular basis were identified. One hundred forty-one social workers in over 26 treatment facilities were surveyed in settings across the United States. A large percentage of those surveyed work at least 50% of their time with OEF/OEF soldiers and their families.

Death in a religious community.

Within the experience of all religions, death and loss are a constant of the human condition. Most religions have developed strategies for helping members who are experiencing the pain of loss. Within Ethical Humanism, a non-atheistic religion, the reliance on community has been the major source of support and coping for members within each Ethical Society. This article explores the concept of community within Ethical Humanism, developed and articulated through the pastoral role, and applies it to the experiences of two prominent members of the Ethical Society.

Professional quality of life and associated factors among VHA chaplains.

Chaplains play a unique role in the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care systems and have numerous responsibilities. Compassion satisfaction (CS), compassion fatigue (CF), and burnout (BO) are three major phenomenons that have been documented in other helping professions, but little is known about VA Chaplains' professional quality of life. This study examines a national sample of VA Chaplains and their professional quality of life along with associated factors. Two-hundred and seventeen VA Chaplains completed an anonymous Internet survey, and regression analyses were conducted to determine which variables affect professional quality of life. On average, participants report high levels of CS and low levels of CF and BO. Gender, perceived support from VA administration, and mental health (MH) integration were significant predictors for CS. MH integration and perceived support significantly affected CF. Age, MH integration, and perceived support affected BO. Significant interaction effects were found for CF and BO. In summary, younger Chaplains and Chaplains who report low levels of collaboration with MH professionals are most likely to develop CF and BO. This supports continued support from the VA for interdisciplinary initiatives and mentorship of younger Chaplains.

VHA Chaplains: challenges, roles, rewards, and frustrations of the work.

Chaplains working in the Veterans Health Administration have numerous roles and challenges. They work closely with other behavioral health professionals, especially social workers, to address the multiplicity of needs of the Veteran population. They are essentially an understudied subset of the military Chaplaincy service (most studies focus on those engaged in combat areas). In this exploratory qualitative study, VHA Chaplains responded to a survey to determine how they defined their role and professional challenges, what they felt were the rewards and frustrations of their work and their unique function within the VHA system. Findings showed that role differences between Chaplains and social workers and other behavioral health providers are clearly defined; rewards and challenges were diverse and frustrations were common to those working in a bureaucratic structure.

Evaluation research on social work interventions: a study on the impact of social worker staffing.

This study examined the impact of social worker staffing on depression and health-related quality of life (QOL) of end-stage renal disease patients on hemodialysis. Social workers in most dialysis units work a 5-day week. Patients are usually dialyzed three times per week. Patients on a Monday-Wednesday-Friday schedule have access to their social worker 3 days a week, while the Tuesday-Thursday-Saturday schedule patients have only 2 days; that is, contact with the social worker is reduced by one third for those patients. Findings demonstrated that those patients who had access to the social workers one third less time had statistically significant poorer QOL on 4 of the 5 domains measured, and had clinically indicated levels of depression. Findings reinforce the importance of the social worker in the life of the dialysis patient.