ABSTRACT
The study evaluated the perception of the services of social workers by staff of UBTH, Benin City. The objective of the study was to evaluate the general knowledge about social work among staffs of UBTH Benin city; examine the perception of services of social workers among staffs of UBTH Benin city; ascertain how public perception affects Social workers’ concentration and to explore the strategies employed by stakeholders and social workers to help mitigate negative perceptions.
The cross sectional research design was adopted for this study. 200 copies of questionnaire were distributed to participant in the University of Benin teaching hospital (UBTH). Data collected were analyzed using frequency count, percentages, and mean with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) 24.0.
The empirical result showed that some respondents understood that social work is a practice-based profession and an academic discipline that promotes social change and development, social cohesion, and liberation of people; that social workers help in case management, counselling, advocacy and education in the local environs; that social workers listen to those that need their help around the hospital. The study recommend that is necessary the public should be given more information about the profession of social work; social workers be to disseminate correct information about the profession knowing what is significantly associated with a more positive perception and that the Nigerian government should, as a matter of expediency, make adequate support channels available to schools or departments of social work across the country to enhance their coping capacity, training and retraining of social workers.
