Abstract:

Aim: In this study, we wanted to investigate the characteristics of patients who applied to a tertiary university hospital emergency department and underwent social service assessment. Materials and Methods: We included patients who presented to the emergency department between 2012 and 2019 and underwent social service assessment. We retrospectively searched the demographic and clinical characteristics of the patients by patient file records. Results: The study population consisted of 243 patients. The mean age was 55.6 ± 20.3 years, and 65.8% (n: 160) of the patients were male. The most common reasons for requesting social work evaluation are accommodation (36.2%), transportation (30.0%), and guidance services (18.9%) needs of patients. The most common supports of social workers occurred as; counseling (28.4%), reaching relatives (23%), contacting the Provincial Directorate of Family, Labor and Social Services (20.6%), and psycho-social interview (15.2%). After the evaluation, it was determined that the social workers referred 35.7% (n: 84) of the patients to the institution, 23.4% delivered to their relatives (n: 55), and 16.6% (n: 39) placed in the institution. Conclusion: There is a need for social workers in emergency departments. Accommodation and transfer problems are the most common reasons for seeking social service support. The awareness of emergency medicine professionals about the scope of social work practices should be increased. Full-time social workers need to be present in emergency departments to be able to contact more patients.

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