Conclusion – Connie Applewhite
Oppression and discrimination that occurred during the progressive era still does today. It is surprising that there is so much controversial political and ethical debate today to deal with the demands of the helpless populations in our nation. There was over a hundred years ago at the turn of the time when Richard Cabot started his profession. His strength realized people’s needs, and how to take care of those needs; due to his power he was able to establish social work in the medical field, medical social work. He opened doors for a lot of people in today’s society. Thanks to Richard Cabot, patients can get the proper care and services available to help assist their needs, for instance, making sure their homes were safe. Richard Cabot brought attention to the psychological and socioeconomic issues. Richard Cabot did not have the prevailing notion that there were those worthy and unworthy of help. He felt that everyone was entitled to the best care that was available. He allowed ethics to be practiced; the concerns and needs were being voiced. Social justice, equality, and fairness guided the development of his strategy because he noticed the disparity among patients and their need for more than a diagnosis to be treated with medicine. Completing this task provided me with a greater knowledge of the history of social work and put into view that there were people who help pave the way, and how the field of medical social work came about. I enjoyed doing this assignment because it informed me in the area of social work I’m interested in pursuing.
Conclusion - Tammy Hughes
Dr. Richard Cabot wrote, “Our physicians have too often treated the patient as if he were a walking disease, a body without a mind” (1919, p. 66). It is my belief that the medical social workers of today, and perhaps all social workers owe a great debt to Dr. Cabot. I find within his philosophy an encapsulation of all the modern ethical principles of social work. The NASW core values of service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence are interwoven in even his earliest writings. He was distressed at his own realization that for so long he was servicing, but not really seeing the needs of his patients. So much so that he determined to begin a new way of treating them by adding to his science, a form of psychology, sociology, philosophy, and advocacy. He was determined to help the patient understand all the factors that could play a part in treatment and recovery. Thus was born the medical social worker. As a medical social work pioneer, Dr. Cabot, “saw a need to individualize the patient while also promoting public health measures in the community, improving the patient’s environment to eliminate the causes of the disease” (Kass, 2007). Many of these ideas today fall under basic human rights and not to show concern for a patients environment or capacity to integrate the prescribed treatment would amount to a form of oppression. Could you imagine a hospital today not informing a new mother how to properly care for, swaddle, and feed her new born child? Or a soldier who has lost a limb being discharged without an explanation of possible PTSD? Or elderly patient being discharged with no inquiry of how they might pay for the expensive medicine they’ve just been prescribed? Of course not, because a social worker would be involved advocating for each of these patients!
I have not yet determined which avenue of social work I am most drawn to. The need is so great. Though at this point, I am beginning to lean toward gerontology or some arena matching community resources with the areas of most need. I have learned a great deal about the history of the social work profession, it’s pioneers, and principles. I am proud to be in this helping profession!
References
Bloom, S. W. (2000). Social Work and the Behavioral Sciences: Past History, Future Prospects. Social Work In Health Care, 31(3), 25.
Cabot, R. (1909). Social Service and the Art of Healing. Moffat, Yard, and Company. New York, NY.
Cabot, R. (1919). Medicine and Society in America. Arno Press Inc. ISBN: 0-405-03940-9
Garchar, K., & Kaag, J. (2013). Classical American Philosophy and Modern Medical Ethics: The Case of Richard Cabot. Transactions Of The Charles S. Peirce Society, 49(4), 553-574. doi:10.2979/trancharpeirsoc.49.4.553
Kass, A. M. (2007). Private Practice: In the Early Twentieth-Century Medical Office of Dr. Richard Cabot. New England Quarterly, 80(1), 162-165.
Kerson, T., & McCoyd, J. M. (2013). In Response to Need: An Analysis of Social Work Roles over Time. Social Work, 58(4), 333-343.
O'Donnell, P., Farrar, A., BrintzenhofeSzoc, K., Conrad, A., Danis, M., Grady, C., & ... Ulrich, C. M. (2008). Predictors of Ethical Stress, Moral Action and Job Satisfaction in Health Care Social Workers. Social Work In Health Care, 46(3), 29. doi:10.1300/J010v46n03_02
Roberts, C. (2009). Selected medical luminaries. The case of Richard Cabot. Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 22(3), 246-263.
Rothstein, W. G. (2006). Private Practice: In the Early Twentieth-Century Medical Office of Dr. Richard Cabot. Journal Of American History, 93(1), 255.
Stuart, P. H. (2004). Individualization and prevention: Richard C. Cabot and early medical social work. Social Work In Mental Health, 2(2/3), 7-20.
Oppression and discrimination that occurred during the progressive era still does today. It is surprising that there is so much controversial political and ethical debate today to deal with the demands of the helpless populations in our nation. There was over a hundred years ago at the turn of the time when Richard Cabot started his profession. His strength realized people’s needs, and how to take care of those needs; due to his power he was able to establish social work in the medical field, medical social work. He opened doors for a lot of people in today’s society. Thanks to Richard Cabot, patients can get the proper care and services available to help assist their needs, for instance, making sure their homes were safe. Richard Cabot brought attention to the psychological and socioeconomic issues. Richard Cabot did not have the prevailing notion that there were those worthy and unworthy of help. He felt that everyone was entitled to the best care that was available. He allowed ethics to be practiced; the concerns and needs were being voiced. Social justice, equality, and fairness guided the development of his strategy because he noticed the disparity among patients and their need for more than a diagnosis to be treated with medicine. Completing this task provided me with a greater knowledge of the history of social work and put into view that there were people who help pave the way, and how the field of medical social work came about. I enjoyed doing this assignment because it informed me in the area of social work I’m interested in pursuing.
Conclusion - Tammy Hughes
Dr. Richard Cabot wrote, “Our physicians have too often treated the patient as if he were a walking disease, a body without a mind” (1919, p. 66). It is my belief that the medical social workers of today, and perhaps all social workers owe a great debt to Dr. Cabot. I find within his philosophy an encapsulation of all the modern ethical principles of social work. The NASW core values of service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence are interwoven in even his earliest writings. He was distressed at his own realization that for so long he was servicing, but not really seeing the needs of his patients. So much so that he determined to begin a new way of treating them by adding to his science, a form of psychology, sociology, philosophy, and advocacy. He was determined to help the patient understand all the factors that could play a part in treatment and recovery. Thus was born the medical social worker. As a medical social work pioneer, Dr. Cabot, “saw a need to individualize the patient while also promoting public health measures in the community, improving the patient’s environment to eliminate the causes of the disease” (Kass, 2007). Many of these ideas today fall under basic human rights and not to show concern for a patients environment or capacity to integrate the prescribed treatment would amount to a form of oppression. Could you imagine a hospital today not informing a new mother how to properly care for, swaddle, and feed her new born child? Or a soldier who has lost a limb being discharged without an explanation of possible PTSD? Or elderly patient being discharged with no inquiry of how they might pay for the expensive medicine they’ve just been prescribed? Of course not, because a social worker would be involved advocating for each of these patients!
I have not yet determined which avenue of social work I am most drawn to. The need is so great. Though at this point, I am beginning to lean toward gerontology or some arena matching community resources with the areas of most need. I have learned a great deal about the history of the social work profession, it’s pioneers, and principles. I am proud to be in this helping profession!
References
Bloom, S. W. (2000). Social Work and the Behavioral Sciences: Past History, Future Prospects. Social Work In Health Care, 31(3), 25.
Cabot, R. (1909). Social Service and the Art of Healing. Moffat, Yard, and Company. New York, NY.
Cabot, R. (1919). Medicine and Society in America. Arno Press Inc. ISBN: 0-405-03940-9
Garchar, K., & Kaag, J. (2013). Classical American Philosophy and Modern Medical Ethics: The Case of Richard Cabot. Transactions Of The Charles S. Peirce Society, 49(4), 553-574. doi:10.2979/trancharpeirsoc.49.4.553
Kass, A. M. (2007). Private Practice: In the Early Twentieth-Century Medical Office of Dr. Richard Cabot. New England Quarterly, 80(1), 162-165.
Kerson, T., & McCoyd, J. M. (2013). In Response to Need: An Analysis of Social Work Roles over Time. Social Work, 58(4), 333-343.
O'Donnell, P., Farrar, A., BrintzenhofeSzoc, K., Conrad, A., Danis, M., Grady, C., & ... Ulrich, C. M. (2008). Predictors of Ethical Stress, Moral Action and Job Satisfaction in Health Care Social Workers. Social Work In Health Care, 46(3), 29. doi:10.1300/J010v46n03_02
Roberts, C. (2009). Selected medical luminaries. The case of Richard Cabot. Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 22(3), 246-263.
Rothstein, W. G. (2006). Private Practice: In the Early Twentieth-Century Medical Office of Dr. Richard Cabot. Journal Of American History, 93(1), 255.
Stuart, P. H. (2004). Individualization and prevention: Richard C. Cabot and early medical social work. Social Work In Mental Health, 2(2/3), 7-20.