Knowledge and Social Work in Health Care—The Case of Finland

Abstract

Studies carried out in different countries have shown that there is a lack of a common and up-dated knowledge base in social work, and that social workers make use of research in their everyday practice only to a very limited extent. On the other hand it has been shown that social workers feel they need knowledge but not necessarily in the form it is produced by the researchers. This paper explores issues of knowledge and competence in health social work based on the results of a survey and a focus group interview conducted among social workers in Finland. According to the results, social workers in health care do feel they need new knowledge. Some significant differences were found in the way health social workers view the acquisition and maintenance of professional competence and in the way they seek knowledge, when compared to social workers working in the municipal social services.

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