Survey of Social Workers
Australia
Data collated by Debbie Fortnum
Kidney Health Australia
May 4th 2015
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Introduction
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The aim of this survey was to establish some baseline data about the current
workload of renal social workers and the social issues that are of the greatest
concern. Social workers helped to design the survey.
This survey was offered by email to an existing voluntary membership network of
renal social workers around Australia
(all states are represented within the network except NT)
50 social workers received the email link
34 Social workers responded
This presentation is all of the data and graphs without any complex data analysis
A written report will also be produced with some analysis of data
This data does not represent the views of every social worker or state within
Australia and therefore results while being a useful guide should be interpreted
with caution.
Q1: Which State/territory do you work in?
Answered: 34
Skipped: 0
Q2: Which answer best describes your main place of employment?
Answered: 34
Skipped: 0
79% of social workers were located in
metropolitan areas and 21% of them
were located in a rural region.
Q3: Where do the patients you provide services for reside ?
Answered: 34
Skipped: 0
62% of social workers primarily
supported patients in metropolitan
areas but 94% also provided support
for rural or remote regions.
Q4: How many hours of work are you allocated to the renal service for each week (pick the
nearest answer)?
Answered: 34
Skipped: 0
Only 35% of social workers are working
in full-time positions within renal with
50% working 1-3 shifts per week.
Q5: How many hours of work are you allocated to another specialty for, each week (pick the
nearest answer)?
Answered: 34
Skipped: 0
25% of social workers had
responsibility for other specialties
Q6: Approximately how large is your current personal caseload of renal patients (include those
who potentially could but may not have received social work support)?
Answered: 34
Skipped: 0
Caseloads are usually a mix of pre-dialysis, dialysis, transplant
and supportive care patients
Q7: Please choose how many end-stage kidney disease patients in your service receive social
work contact/support each year.
Answered: 34
Skipped: 0
55% are able to support all patients who
require support.
30% are limited and 12% can only
support urgent and major issues.
Q8: Indicate the percentage of each cultural group that represents your caseload population.
Answered: 34
Skipped: 0
62% of units have over 50% of European cultural groups who speak English as a first language.
Over 75% of units each had some Europeans, Asians and others who were non-English speaking.
85% of units had up to 50% indigenous patients.
Q9: Which answer best describes the stage of kidney disease when the majority of your
referrals for first time support occur?
Answered: 34
Skipped: 0
The role of social workers is dominated
by those in end-stag kidney disease
(stage 5) but over 40% provide a
service for those at various stages.
Q10: Who refers patients to you on a regular basis?
Answered: 31
Skipped: 3
Most social workers accept referrals from a wide range
of sources including patient self-referral.
Q11: Please choose all options that describe a function that you manage as part of your social
work role for your renal service.
Social workers have a diverse role. Supporting patients and carers psychologically and during crisis are key roles. Transport, education,
accommodation, nursing home and financial support input are variable by jurisdiction.
Q12: Which of these other services/roles are easily available to patients using your service (either
internal or external)
Answered: 31
Skipped: 3
Most services have access to a
number of other support services/roles.
Q13: Carers who are actively involved in treatment for those on home dialysis can apply for
either the carers allowance (about $580 FN) or additional carers payment (about $120 FN). In
your opinion what percentage of carers require either/both payments to relieve financial
pressure?
Answered: 31
Skipped: 3
A high proportion of responding social workers estimate that 20-50% of carers would benefit
from the carers allowance, carers payment or both.
Q14: Have you supported, or are you aware of, carers who support home
dialysis and have applied for the carers alloance ($580 per f/n)?
Answered: 32
Skipped: 2
71% of social workers are aware of carers who access the $580 per
f/n carers allowance but most of the carers experienced difficulty in
accessing this payment.
Q15: Have you supported, or are you aware of, carers who support home dialysis and have
applied for the additional carers payment ($120 per f/n)?
Answered: 30
Skipped: 4
63% of social workers are aware of carers who access the $120 per
f/n carers payment but many of these have experienced difficulty in
accessing this payment.
Q16: Home haemodialysis training can require extended periods off work. Based on referrals
to help how many working patients use these strategies to manage financially during this
period?
Answered: 29
Skipped: 5
During home dialysis training sick leave, annual leave and saving up are the most common
strategies to manage financially.
A few patients are known to access centrelink payments or use the good will of employers,
family and friends.
It is less well known how may people try to access their superannuation.
Q17: Is there a need for additional financial support such as a 6 week special paid leave
scheme for new home haemodialysis patients during training?
Answered: 32
Skipped: 2
66% of social workers think there is a need for
additional financial support during home
haemodialysis training and 28% think there may be a
need.
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Q18: Anecdotally remaining at work during end-stage kidney disease is important given the
difficulty in obtaining new employment once on treatment. Do you think there is a need for
better resources to support people to remain at work?
Answered: 32
Skipped: 2
75% of social workers think there is a need
for better resources to support people to
remain at work and 22% think there may
be.
Q19: There are many other potential issues for those with kidney disease that are currently
inadequately addressed. Choose the three issues below that you think require improvement
and would best improve quality of life for patients in your region. (You can choose other and
provide details)
Answered: 33
Skipped: 1
Top 4 issues that social workers believe require input
are transport for in-centre dialysis, respite for PD and
HHD, psychosocial support for carers and assisted
home dialysis.
Q20: If a working party is set up to improve any issues mentioned above would you be willing
to contribute (expressions of interest will be sought at the time)
Answered: 33
Skipped: 1
94% of social workers are willing to become involved
at some level in seeking solutions to the issues as
determined in this survey.
Q21: As a social worker are you interested in any of the following networking/information
opportunities?
Answered: 32
Skipped: 2
87% of social workers support the email network and
63% would like a regular newsletter. Teleconferences
and face to face forums also have good support.
Conclusion
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Most social workers work part-time.
Social workers have a varied workload and are responsible for a wide range of
social supports, varying by jurisdiction
The scope and size of the workload is not consistent around the country
Referrals to social work come from many members of the multidisciplinary team
and even patient self-referral
Many services have wide ethnic diversity
Transport, assisted dialysis at home and respite care are the key issues where
social workers would like intervention
Social workers welcome the opportunity for networking
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Email [email protected] for any queries related to this survey.
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