Discharge Planning Revisited: What do Social Workers Actually do in Discharge Planning?

This article discusses whether discharge planning has a primarily focus on the provision of concrete services, counseling, or both. The authors asserts that, within a structured interview format, eighty social workers in thirty-six acute care hospitals were asked to estimate the amount of time they spent on and the importance of seventy-three discharge planning tasks. The article states that respondents were also asked to locate themselves on an activity continuum. The survey results are discussed in terms of the prospective payment system's emphasis on expeditious discharge and the challenge to social workers in enabling patients and families to have some control over decision making in this climate (authors).