The Role of Social Workers and Mental Health Services for Deaf People - Coursework Example

Download file to see previous pages The main objective of the study is to determine the role of social workers in promoting, encouraging, and developing access to mental health services for deaf people. Social workers whether voluntary, functional, or professional play a major role in ensuring proper mental health services are provided to deaf people through; mental health promotion, proper education provision or information, social needs provision, proper environments, communication support, assessment care, and treatment, placements or employment opportunity, direct payments, complaints, advocacy and also service commissioning, evaluation and monitoring and identifying unmet needs.

The Introduction: setting the scene/context

The international federation of social workers, in collaboration with the international association of school work, has recently endorsed a new definition of social work (IFSW, 2000; Saharto 2006). Professional social work has been defined as social work profession that promotes problem-solving in human relationships, empowerment, social changes, the liberation of people, and the enhancement of society. Through utilizing human behavior and social systems theories, social workers intervene where people interact with their social environment (IFSW, 2000).

Social workers are professionals who are committed to pursuing a social change to the standard of living and the improvement of the individual, group, and community's full potential of each in society. Social workers use the social sciences and political influence to solve social issues. For smooth operation, social workers are organized into local, national, continental, and international professional bodies with this proper organization they have efficiently and effectively carried out their duties at all levels. ‘Deafness’ is an audio-logical term that defines someone whose perceivable sounds, particularly speech, have little or no meaning.

On the other hand ‘Hard of hearing’, describes someone with a loss of hearing but who might have a hearing aid for ordinary hearing purposes. The hearing loss may have been gradual, perhaps with age or as a result of overexposure to loud noises or suddenly as a result of an accident or injury (Source; BDA, 2003). The model of medical disability on the other hand defines deafness as a pathological condition that focuses on the failure of the hearing mechanism. ...Download file to see next pages Read More