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The purpose of this paper is to describe the nature of social work services in a large public medical center serving an impoverished multicultural population. This monitoring evaluation was developed and conducted within the context of a research collaboration between a School of Social Work and a team of clinical workers, supervisors, and administrators from the social work department of the medical center. The paper includes a description of the development of the assessment instrument as well as the findings, including the categories of sociodemographics, assessments, and services delivered by medical social workers. Conclusions emphasize the degree of anxiety and depression in the patients and their families and the need for clinical social workers to be skilled in the multicultural assessment and treatment of these problems. This need is then put into the context of the current health care climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article evaluates the efficacy of a structured group treatment for the management of chronic pain. The author remarks that the importance of using random assignment with appropriate outcome measures, of attending to clinical as well as statistical significance, and of follow-up to assess the permanent effects of interventions have been stressed. The rationale for development of this model is based on the fact that chronic pain, in spite of its severity and prevalence, has not been recognized sufficiently by social workers. Development and evaluation of social work treatment models for chronic pain are lacking in spite of research studies that indicate that cognitive-behavioral strategies are frequently successful in improving clients' subjective perceptions of pain and functioning, although they do not directly address environmental factors and issues of secondary gain. Results of the pilot study indicated that clients made statistically significant improvements in levels of physical and psychosocial dysfunction and negative mood states while not significantly changing their perceived levels of pain.