In many places in the UK, social work is integral to mental health service delivery. Significant role erosion, however, has left the profession unclear about where it fits within modern mental health services. The 2016 Social Work for Better Mental Health initiative outlines five key mental health roles and has been adopted into national policy in England to combat this uncertainty, but the influence of this has not been explored. This study aimed to develop an understanding of how mental health social workers perceive and explain their role. Semi-structured interviews were undertaken with seven social workers based within one English National Health Service mental health trust covering a large geographical area and their responses analysed using Ritchie, Spencer and O’Connor’s Framework thematic model. Findings indicated that social workers only superficially engaged with the aspirational policy roles, instead presenting their own framework for what makes mental health social work distinctive. This was constructed around the context and intentions of practice, rather than around proscribed tasks and responsibilities. This study has significance for individual social workers and for organisations providing and planning mental health services in the UK and beyond, given the influence that practitioner perceptions can have on how they undertake their roles.

中文翻译：

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“也许是小牛，也许是父母，但绝对不是名誉护士”：社会工作者对社会工作在心理保健中的作用和性质的看法

在英国的许多地方，社会工作对于精神卫生服务的提供是不可或缺的。然而，重要的角色侵蚀使该行业不清楚它在现代精神卫生服务中的地位。2016年社会工作促进心理健康该倡议概述了五个关键的心理健康角色，并已在英格兰被纳入国家政策中以应对这种不确定性，但尚未探讨这种影响。这项研究旨在加深对精神卫生社工如何理解和解释其作用的理解。在一个英国国民健康服务机构的精神卫生信托基金中，对七个社会工作者进行了半结构化访谈，该信托基金覆盖了较大的地理区域，并使用Ritchie，Spencer和O'Connor的框架主题模型对他们的回答进行了分析。调查结果表明，社会工作者只是从表面上从事理想政策的角色，而不是为使精神卫生社会工作与众不同而提出自己的框架。它是围绕实践的背景和意图而构建的，而不是围绕规定的任务和职责。鉴于从业者的看法可能会对他们的角色扮演产生影响，因此该研究对于英国及其他地区的个体社会工作者以及提供和规划心理健康服务的组织具有重要意义。