Resource Link And Policy Modification:Role Practice Of Medical Social Workers

The development of medical social workers in China is relatively late.At present,they are still in a "small group" in the social work industry.Their status is very embarrassing and their professional identity is very low.Medical social workers often encounter some special patients whose family conditions are particularly difficult,but they do not conform to the national policy of "critical illness relief".What should medical social workers do when facing these rigid policies? What role dilemmas are we facing? According to Merton’s theory of social anomie,when the goal can not be achieved through legal means,there will be social deviance,and positive social deviance is one of the driving forces to promote social development.Medical social workers help their clients enjoy the benefits of these policies through the "vague zone" of these policies,which is consistent with the values of social work.At the same time,according to Zhou Xueguang’s theory of reverse soft budget constraint,it is feasible for the medical community to use the government’s ability of soft budget constraint to help the clients link these policies.In this study,case study method was used to illustrate how medical social workers crossed the "vague zone" of policy to help clients,taking Xiaofan,a uremic child undergoing hemodialysis in M Hospital of Jiangxi Province as an example,so as to realize the response to the needs of clients.Based on this,according to Merton’s theory of social anomie,this paper emphasizes the legitimacy of "deviant behavior" in which social workers make use of the government’s soft budget constraints in order to help their clients.Social work originated from welfare relief in the West.Its value is humanism.Medical social workers advocate that the government make use of the ability of soft budget constraints to adjust the policy within the boundaries,which is a response to the value of social work and an affirmative positive social deviance.Through the case study of Xiaofan,this paper draws the conclusion that the work of medical society is the direct contact between the supplier and the demander of the national policy of "major illness relief".We should fully realize the contradiction between them and make use of the government’s ability of soft budget restraint to meet the needs of the clients on the basis of adhering to the social workers’ humanistic values.At the same time,we can learn from Xiaofan’s case that the state usually considers policy flexibility when formulating policies.There is a certain "fuzziness" in the policies,but it only needs someone to pierce this layer of paper.In this process,medical social workers are advocates of policy changes and linkers of resources.In the face of particularly difficult service objects that do not meet the national policy conditions of "major illness relief",medical social workers advocate that the government use the ability of soft budget constraints to make policy changes within the boundaries,which is consistent with the values of social work,and is also the result of social work.Source-the demand for social welfare,not only does it not violate the state’s policies,but also provides help to the clients.