The value of hospital social work is supported by one hospital's tracking system that monitored social work discharge services and compared outcome with non-social work discharges. The sample consisted of a total of 64,722 patients admitted to the "med-surg" hospital unit over a two and one-half year time period from 2002 to 2004. Of the total patients in the sample, 15.7% (n = 10,156) had social work involvement. Sixty percent of the social worker patients were age 70 or over compared with the mean age of the sample of 56.2 years. The mean length of stay for social work served patients was 11.4 days (sd = 13.9) compared to 4.3 days (sd = 6.3) non-social work patients, a difference that was significant (t =-68.3; p = .000). The authors attribute the longer lengths of stay to social workers' receiving older and more difficult-to-place patients. An evidence-based case is made for the cost-containment value of social workers in hospitals and for the creation of a tracking infrastructure to aid in monitoring the daily achievements of medical/surgical social workers.

This study addressed the perceptions of stigma and disclosure behavior of HIV-seropositive mothers. Eighty-eight HIV-seropositive women in New York City completed two independent measures of stigma, the Perceived Stigma Scale and the Devaluation-Discrimination Measure. Disclosers (67%) and nondisclosers (33%) were similar in most sociodemographic characteristics-marital status, race, religion and employment, with the exception of age and education. Significant differences were found between disclosure groups in the use of secrecy as a stigmamanagement tool and in perceived devaluation-discrimination associated with an HIV diagnosis. Nondisclosers to children were significantly more likely than disclosers to use secrecy as a stigma management tool (t =-2.76; p =.01), and to feel devalued and discriminated against as a result of HIV serostatus (t = 3.11; p =.01). Disclosure of parental HIV serostatus to children is an important aspect of continuous care and custody planning. Secrecy and perceptions of devaluation and discrimination related to HIV diagnosis should be seen as barriers to disclosure of serostatus to children.

Social group work education appears to be in trouble. The literature details a progressive disintegration of group work educational opportunities while highlighting an incremental increase in the use of groups in agencies. This makes for a concerning scenario. This article presents data from a national study of 1,360 first-year MSW students. The current study explored the extent to which students are exposed to group work content and knowledge in foundation classes. A discussion of implications and recommendations, using case vignettes, are provided to illustrate and amplify findings, as well as to highlight challenges that lie ahead for group work education and practice.

This article presents a qualitative study that examined how Israeli social workers contend with ethical issues regarding confidentiality and disclosure in the aftermath of a terrorist attack. Respondents of this study shared examples from their own experiences of how ethical issues emerged as a result of confidentiality obligations.