Ahmed Abdelhamid Elebshehe 1&2*, Noha Abdullah Aljehani3
1Department of Sociology and Social Work, College of Languages and Humanities, Qassim University, Buraidah,
2Professor of Social Planning, Faculty of Social Work, Helwan University, Egypt,
3Ph.D. in Social Work, Leader of Social Care, Makkah Health Cluster, Makkah, Saudi Arabia.
Volume: 17 | Issue: 2 | Pages: 1-14 | June 2025 | https://doi.org/10.54940/ss16404209 | PDF
Received: 07/03/2025 | Revised: 18/03/2025| Accepted: 21/03/2025
Corresponding Author: [email protected]
Abstract
This study aimed to determine the reality of the participation of social workers working in the psychological field in developing mental health care policy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This study is a quantitative descriptive study. It relied on the social survey method, and data were collected using a questionnaire. (111) out of 272 social workers at the Erada and Mental Health Complexes responded, representing (40.8%). The results of the study showed that the level of participation of Social Workers in developing health care policy in general is (medium). Although their level of participation is high at the workplace level, it is low outside of it, especially at the macro level of policy formulation. The most prominent barriers to participation are weak communication with policy makers and the lack of skills to participate in policy development. The study recommends: designing training programs to develop the skills of social workers involved in policy development in mental health, including policy development tasks in their job descriptions, and developing academic programs for social work education and field training to provide students with the knowledge and skills necessary to participate in policy development.
Keywords
Participation - Social Workers- Mental Health Care Policy - Policy Development - Saudi Arabia.
How to Cite
Elebshehe, A. & Aljehani, N. (2025).The Participation of Social Workers in the Development of Mental Health Care Policy in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia: An Applied Study at Eradah and Mental Health Complexes. Journal of Umm Al-Qura University for Social Sciences, 17(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.54940/ss16404209.
License
Copyright (c) 2023. This work is licensed under aCreative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC)