How Social Workers Ensure The Mental And Physical Wellness of Society

For years, society is evolving continuously, creating a tremendous impact on each individual throughout the world. Consulting social worker professionals serves as a solution to these demanding issues. Social workers provide services that help individuals to live a healthy and stress-free life.

Social workers bridge the gap between an individual’s interest and behavior and social environment. They are highly skilled professionals responsible for working for the welfare of the people. Social workers do intensive research on issues, play a part in policymaking, advocate through programs. The dedicated social workers make efforts to help those under the influence of unemployment, injustice, poverty, illness, or other issues.

A social worker needs to have a comprehensive knowledge of the culture, economic situation, and social environment. Social workers are of two types: direct-service social workers and clinical social workers. Direct social workers help individuals with their everyday problems. At the same time, clinical social workers diagnose behavioral or societal issues and work on them. The majority of clinical social workers work solo. However, few clinical social workers work in collaboration with other mental health professionals or other social workers. Social workers work in diverse settings such as hospitals, clinics, schools, universities, military locations, etc.

The field and demand for social services are ever-changing. Whether you desire to settle for this profession, a social work career guide can help you determine its worth. Here is how social workers are working for the mental and physical well-being of individuals.

ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKERS IN IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH

Social workers are continually working for the mental soundness of individuals in society. Today, many people are suffering from anxiety, panic attacks, depressing thoughts, and mental disorders. Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, issues such as suicidal feelings and midlife crisis have been arising a lot due to various reasons. However, social workers are performing a great job in keeping their sanity in check. Had there not been any social workers to help such individuals, society would have failed to prosper.

Here is a concise description of how social workers help people living in different environments with their mental health.

• Social workers work closely with the hospital staff to make them understand the condition of the patients. They provide psychological support, assist patients with all the available treatment options, day to day therapy.
• At their growing age, many students struggle with adjusting to schools, bullying, and complexity issues. Social workers help them overcome these barriers by looking after their emotional state.
• The job of military people requires them to live far away from their families. Therefore social workers help them by interpersonal counseling.
• Natural disasters or terrorist attacks can cause disabilities in individuals and can be a traumatic experience. Social work professionals understand their mental state. They offer care and help them with reducing fear.

In general, these professionals guide individuals, family members, and married couples with all sorts of therapy. Offering behavior therapy, education, and training for anger management issues are their everyday tasks. Also, they follow up with each individual and keep a close tab to check on how they are doing.

ROLE OF SOCIAL WORKERS IN IMPROVING PHYSICAL HEALTH

Social workers are responsible for indulging individuals in physical activities in ensuring their fitness. Financial issues or differences between society individuals are fundamental limitations for not engaging in physical activities. Here comes the role of a social worker! They discuss and commence negotiations with the members to eradicate the issues hindering physical health.

Work-life and family- life play a crucial role in a person’s health. Social workers pay attention to both; identifying and tackling societal problems and making improvements for the people’s welfare.

The following strategies shows how social workers can encourage members and society to improve their health:

• Social workers can use their workspace to promote physical activities – walking, indoor games, and providing means for exercising.
• Social workers can work with community members to develop programs that help senior citizens. Social workers can also participate in social planning to ensure the environment is safe and secure for all. It implies maintaining poor roads, removing inadequate lights, efficient mode of transportation, etc.
• Social workers can work alongside the community and national institutions to provide employment opportunities, thus reducing poverty. These social services also offer exceptional opportunities for people having any disability or health issues.

Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, social workers are playing a critical part in unprecedented circumstances. They are adapting swiftly to the situation, providing support and services to individuals.

CONCLUSION

The field of social work is continuously evolving and making progress. According to the BLS survey, this field will continue to grow by 13% by 2029. At the same time, this pandemic has restricted people’s physical activities and affected their mental health. At the same time, it is proving to be an opportunity to deal with this crisis as a united society.