Social Work Practice of Hospital Social Workers under the Structural Adjustment Program in Greece

and its resultant social spending cuts and austerity measures on social work practice in Greek
public hospitals. THEORETICAL BASE: The research is informed by a critical social theory
approach. METHODS: Qualitative interviews were conducted with eleven senior social workers.
OUTCOMES: Data gathered from qualitative interviews in 2011 reveal that underfunding and
understaffing causes workers to intensify their professional efforts and to increasingly draw on
more informal contacts, as well as on their personal resources, to respond to the needs of service
users. Health care spending cuts within the context of neoliberal capitalism clearly undermine
participants’ ability to effectively perform their work, but they do the best they can with the
available resources. Faced with an increasing inability to provide optimal care, participants
reorient their focus to at least providing emotional support. A strong theme of resistance emerged,
with participants insisting that health care is a right and not a commodity. SOCIAL WORK
IMPLICATIONS: The paper maintains that it is imperative for the social work profession to
understand that the difficulties they experience emerge within the context of neoliberal capitalism
and thus austerity measures and social spending cuts need to become a locus of intervention.