Academic Journal
‘It’s not just the here and now, it’s the near future’: The role of social workers as a temporal bridge when supporting older people in hospital
| Τίτλος: | ‘It’s not just the here and now, it’s the near future’: The role of social workers as a temporal bridge when supporting older people in hospital |
|---|---|
| Συγγραφείς: | Phillips, Carrie, Burrows, Daniel |
| Στοιχεία εκδότη: | Oxford University Press |
| Έτος έκδοσης: | 2026 |
| Συλλογή: | University of Sunderland: SUnderland REpository (SURE) |
| Θεματικοί όροι: | Health and Social Care |
| Περιγραφή: | In the UK, around 20% of new requests for adult social care arise as a result of a hospital admission, and older people are the most likely demographic to be in need of social care support. This paper draws on interviews and surveys conducted with 108 members of hospital social work teams across the UK about their work supporting the discharge of older people from acute hospitals. We demonstrate that some of the unique contribution of hospital social workers can be framed using ecological systems theory. We focus on the way in which social workers act as a temporal bridge, highlighting the impact of chronosystems on the individual, and taking a holistic approach that includes consideration of the individual’s past, present, and future. Framing hospital social work using ecological systems theory can help articulate the value of social work in a hospital setting, especially as policy in the UK moves to favour shorter hospital admissions. Teaser Text Older people often need social care support when they are discharged from hospital, and this support is often arranged by a social worker, however we do not know much about the social work role in hospitals. This research involved 108 members of hospital social work teams. They told us that they support patients by identifying what is important to them - in their family and social circle, their history, and their future. Social workers felt that no other professionals in the hospital pay the same amount of attention to time, or the past and the future. They also felt that paying attention to the past and the future is important, because it helps patients and the professionals supporting them to make better decisions, for example about whether an older person’s needs might be best met in residential care or how they can be supported to go home from hospital. |
| Τύπος εγγράφου: | article in journal/newspaper |
| Περιγραφή αρχείου: | application/pdf |
| Γλώσσα: | English |
| Relation: | https://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/19742/3/BJSW%20Special%20Issue%20Final%20-%20Copy.pdf; Phillips, Carrie and Burrows, Daniel (2026) ‘It’s not just the here and now, it’s the near future’: The role of social workers as a temporal bridge when supporting older people in hospital. British Journal of Social Work, 56 (2). pp. 589-608. |
| DOI: | 10.1093/bjsw/bcaf292 |
| Διαθεσιμότητα: | https://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/19742/ https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcaf292 |
| Αριθμός Καταχώρησης: | edsbas.F0D963ED |
| Βάση Δεδομένων: | BASE |
| FullText | Text: Availability: 0 CustomLinks: – Url: https://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/19742/# Name: EDS - BASE (ns324271) Category: fullText Text: View record from BASE |
|---|---|
| Header | DbId: edsbas DbLabel: BASE An: edsbas.F0D963ED RelevancyScore: 941 AccessLevel: 3 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 940.635681152344 |
| IllustrationInfo | |
| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: ‘It’s not just the here and now, it’s the near future’: The role of social workers as a temporal bridge when supporting older people in hospital – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Phillips%2C+Carrie%22">Phillips, Carrie</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Burrows%2C+Daniel%22">Burrows, Daniel</searchLink> – Name: Publisher Label: Publisher Information Group: PubInfo Data: Oxford University Press – Name: DatePubCY Label: Publication Year Group: Date Data: 2026 – Name: Subset Label: Collection Group: HoldingsInfo Data: University of Sunderland: SUnderland REpository (SURE) – Name: Subject Label: Subject Terms Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Health+and+Social+Care%22">Health and Social Care</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Description Group: Ab Data: In the UK, around 20% of new requests for adult social care arise as a result of a hospital admission, and older people are the most likely demographic to be in need of social care support. This paper draws on interviews and surveys conducted with 108 members of hospital social work teams across the UK about their work supporting the discharge of older people from acute hospitals. We demonstrate that some of the unique contribution of hospital social workers can be framed using ecological systems theory. We focus on the way in which social workers act as a temporal bridge, highlighting the impact of chronosystems on the individual, and taking a holistic approach that includes consideration of the individual’s past, present, and future. Framing hospital social work using ecological systems theory can help articulate the value of social work in a hospital setting, especially as policy in the UK moves to favour shorter hospital admissions. Teaser Text Older people often need social care support when they are discharged from hospital, and this support is often arranged by a social worker, however we do not know much about the social work role in hospitals. This research involved 108 members of hospital social work teams. They told us that they support patients by identifying what is important to them - in their family and social circle, their history, and their future. Social workers felt that no other professionals in the hospital pay the same amount of attention to time, or the past and the future. They also felt that paying attention to the past and the future is important, because it helps patients and the professionals supporting them to make better decisions, for example about whether an older person’s needs might be best met in residential care or how they can be supported to go home from hospital. – Name: TypeDocument Label: Document Type Group: TypDoc Data: article in journal/newspaper – Name: Format Label: File Description Group: SrcInfo Data: application/pdf – Name: Language Label: Language Group: Lang Data: English – Name: NoteTitleSource Label: Relation Group: SrcInfo Data: https://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/19742/3/BJSW%20Special%20Issue%20Final%20-%20Copy.pdf; Phillips, Carrie and Burrows, Daniel (2026) ‘It’s not just the here and now, it’s the near future’: The role of social workers as a temporal bridge when supporting older people in hospital. British Journal of Social Work, 56 (2). pp. 589-608. – Name: DOI Label: DOI Group: ID Data: 10.1093/bjsw/bcaf292 – Name: URL Label: Availability Group: URL Data: https://sure.sunderland.ac.uk/id/eprint/19742/<br />https://doi.org/10.1093/bjsw/bcaf292 – Name: AN Label: Accession Number Group: ID Data: edsbas.F0D963ED |
| PLink | https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&site=eds-live&db=edsbas&AN=edsbas.F0D963ED |
| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.1093/bjsw/bcaf292 Languages: – Text: English Subjects: – SubjectFull: Health and Social Care Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: ‘It’s not just the here and now, it’s the near future’: The role of social workers as a temporal bridge when supporting older people in hospital Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Phillips, Carrie – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Burrows, Daniel IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 01 Type: published Y: 2026 Identifiers: – Type: issn-locals Value: edsbas |
| ResultId | 1 |