Tuberculosis : a social work perspective

Abstract

Tuberculosis is declared by the health authorities as a social disease, which needs speedy attention. As a social disease and its spread being precipitated by unfavourable social circumstances, especially poverty, this has become a concern to social work profession as it strives to alleviate and eradicate poverty. The social workers thus have little or limited knowledge and skills in assisting tuberculosis patients. This research is aimed at exploring how social workers feature in rendering social services with the view of combating the spread of tuberculosis. An indepth theoretical study was undertaken to discuss tuberculosis broadly. The extent, nature, symptoms and treatment modalities of tuberculosis have been discussed. Poverty as a precipitator to tuberculosis has been explored. Unfavourable social circumstances that are related to tuberculosis have also been discussed. The impact of tuberculosis unto the patient himself and his family has been looked at. Tuberculosis control measures and the roles and tasks of social workers in combating tuberculosis have been discussed. The sample for this research consisted of 150 tuberculosis patients admitted in sampled hospitals of the North West Province and 20 community members of Motlhabeng village in Mafikeng. Data was obtained through questionnaires that were administered to the respondents. A case study was also selected to give an account of a tuberculosis patient's circumstances as well as the intervention performed by a social worker. From the literature and empirical findings, it became apparent that tuberculosis is precipitated by poverty and that social workers need to be highly involved in combating the spread of tuberculosis.