Role Perceptions: A Study of Patient and Staff Views, the Hospital for Special Surgery, March-July 1968

All too frequently social workers at The Hospital for Special Surgery are heard saying among themselves that they wish that patients and doctors would learn how to use their services properly. The writer is a member of the Social Service Department and the following study represents an effort to clarify some aspects of this problem. Information will be sought to find out where patients seek various kinds of help which we expect them to need, some socio-economic factors which might affect the way in which they seek help and how the clinic staff define roles of social service and other disciplines.