Social Work in Home Dialysis: Responding to Trends in Health Care

This paper describes the author’s 2-year experience as a social worker in a home dialysis training center. The experience is viewed in relation to current trends in health care: greater recognition of the patient’s emotional response; more patient responsibility for treatment; increased communication among various professions and between the health care team and patients; rehabilitation of chronically ill patients; and decentralized delivery of services. It is concluded that the social worker can provide leadership in responding to these trends. The basis for this leadership lies in the development of good working relationships in the interdisciplinary team and between professionals and patients. For this purpose the social worker must acquire skills in dealing with the conflicts arising from these more complex relationships.