ABSTRACT
The social worker can offer a range of constructive means to reduce the isolation felt by virtually all patients who undergo facial surgery. The social worker attached to the clinical team may be the professional responsible for maintaining the link between patient and hospital, until reduction of clinical need and resumption of normal life make the need for such a link less urgent. For many local authority social services and social work departments, there is little scope for pursuing work other than that required by statute. A few families were referred to social work agencies for help, where the focus for intervention was sufficiently precise. Within a general framework of counselling, the social worker may also offer this framework of “deviance disavowal” to the disfigured person as a means of adjustment and growth. The chapter also presents some closing thoughts on the key concepts discussed in the preceding chapters of this book.
