16. What service users want

In the last decade or so, a number of studies have been conducted to explore the role(s) of the mental health social worker, which is often contested. These studies have largely provided the perspective of social workers. However, a study was published last year in the British Journal of Social Work which explored what service users want from their mental health social worker. This highlighted the importance of social workers providing a reliable and continuous point of contact, and focusing on a service user’s whole life and not just their symptoms.

In this episode I spoke to Dr Mark Wilberforce about this study and its findings, which should inform future discussions about the contribution which social workers make to mental health services. Mark is a social care researcher at the University of York, whose diverse interests include the social care workforce, mental health support, user involvement in research, and the care of older people.

The full text of the paper can be accessed here:

Wilberforce, M., Abendstern, M., Batool, S., Boland, J., Challis, D., Christian, J., Hughes, J., Kinder, P., Lake-Jones, P., Mistry, M., Pitts, R., Roberts, D. (2020) What Do Service Users Want from Mental Health Social Work? A Best–Worst Scaling Analysis, British Journal of Social Work, 50 (5), 1324–1344.

Credit: ‘Positive Energy’ by Scott Holmes Music is licensed under a Attribution-Non Commercial 4.0 International License.