Mukesh Kumar
Medical Social Service Officer
All India Institute of Medical Sciences
New Delhi, India
Abstract
The emergence of professional social work in Indian hospitals is attributed to Bhore Committee who recommended training and placement of hospital social workers. Further, Indian Public Health Standards, Minimum Standards for Medical Colleges and Operational Guidelines of various national health programmes also suggested recruiting social workers in hospitals and medical colleges. As a result of this, social work institutes started giving training in medical and psychiatric social work and trained social workers have been employed in various healthcare set-ups. The article presents an overview of the development, functions and challenges of hospital social work in the country.
Key words: Hospital, Healthcare, Social Work, Medical Social Work.
