ABSTRACT
Health and well-being are often treated within social work education in a very limited manner as being about sickness and social work in hospitals. Health social work practice is most prominent within institutional settings in many countries and as a consequence the knowledge identified as crucial in this field is influenced by the dominant biomedical paradigm. Within the context of contemporary health services social work is commonly an auxiliary service within a ‘host’ organisation customarily organised around medical services. Social work must vie for space and resource for its unique perspective within this setting, while needing to ‘fit in’. The knowledge base for practice is thus potentially full of competing and contested paradigms. This chapter explores these concerns and the implications for social work education. A wide-lens/narrow-lens framework is suggested to foster inclusion of critical health perspectives throughout the curriculum.
