ABSTRACT
Health care in the United States continues to undergo change at breakneck speed. The key variables influencing the delivery of health care include the advent of managed care, the restructuring of social work departments in medical facilities, the movement toward increased outpatient-community based services, advances in medical technology, plus the fact that more people are living longer with chronic illnesses and the ensuing functional restrictions (Berkman, 1996, Kadusin & Egan, 1997, Long & Heydt, 2000). These changes in the aged population and in health care place medical social work at the focal point of social work educators.
