Referrals to social workers: a comparative study of a local authority intake team with a general practice attachment scheme.

We studied clients seen by social workers in two settings, one a conventional intake team in a social services department and another where clients were referred to social workers attached to a primary health care team.In both groups a high proportion of clients were either physically ill or disabled and the attachment group had a high proportion of clients with mental ill health. A large proportion of both groups were elderly and in general they had similar characteristics.However, clients referred to intake teams were more likely to be unemployed, to be living on benefits in council or rented accommodation, and to have had some contact with social services before. The attachment group consisted of more women who were either housewives or working, living on either their own earnings or their husbands', and were more likely to own their own homes and not to have had previous contact with social services.Clients referred to attached social workers were more likely to have an emotional or relationship problem, and many had practical problems as well. The implication is that attachment schemes will tap a wider section of the community and that the additional clients will have as many and as severe problems as clients referred to intake teams.