Identifying Barries in Implementing Policies on Human Resource Development for Social Work in Hospital Nowadays

Abstract: In 2020, the project “Development of social work as a profession in Vietnam for the 2010-2020 period” was considered the official beginning of social work profession in Vietnam. Then, the Ministry of Health developed social work models in hospitals based on the project “Development of social work as a profession in the health sector for the 2011-2020 period” according to Decision 2514/QD-BYT of the Ministry of Health dated July 15th, 2011. This is a new development in healthcare in Vietnam. To accompany the regular goal of improving the quality of medical services at health facilities of the health sector, social work in hospitals needs some changes for comprehensive development. The development of social work in hospitals, foremost, needs a system of professional social workers, both in quantity and quality, and appropriate policies which facilitate the implementation of social work models. The article described the current situation of social work development policies in general and social work in hospitals in particular, via analysis of policies on organizational structure, training and recruitment of social workers using survey data from two hospitals. From that, the paper identified obstacles in human resource development for social work in hospitals and proposed solutions to improve professional social work models at hospitals Keywords Social work, social work in hospitals, social work policy, human resource in social work.