Martin Luther King Day—National Day of Service
National Association of Social Workers Celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service
NASW Encourages Mental Health Providers to Give an Hour to Serve Veterans
NASW joins the nation in honoring the ideals of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. through a national day of service. In response to the Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) conflicts, NASW encourages all licensed mental health providers to virtually sign up to volunteer their services through Give An Hour. The organization’s mission is to develop a national network of volunteers with the correct education and experience to meet the mental health needs of the troops and families affected by these engagements. The entire network of volunteers consists of social workers as well as all disciplines within the mental health community who provide treatment for anxiety, depression, substance abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injuries, sexual health and intimacy concerns, and loss and grieving.
The National Association of Social Workers encourages all licensed mental health providers with the expertise and available time commitment to serve our veterans and their loved ones, who may otherwise silently suffer from mental health challenges. Visit www.giveanhour.org on this important day of service and sign up to volunteer your time.
Social Workers Prepared to Help Victims of Haiti Earthquake
NASW encourages members to get involved
WASHINGTON DC—In the aftermath of the deadly earthquake in Haiti this week, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is issuing an alert to its nearly 150,000 members to help support recovery efforts for victims and their families. In disasters such as this, social workers are uniquely suited to assess the disaster environment in a culturally competent manner and to provide leadership in promoting effective disaster relief and recovery efforts.
“Social workers are often among the first to respond to disasters both nationally and abroad,” says Elizabeth Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH, executive director of NASW. “The people of Haiti need our help now more than ever, and we are committed to providing any assistance we can to one of the world’s poorest countries during this terrible tragedy.”
“If you would like to join with your social worker colleagues in the social work response to this disaster, you can donate through the NASW Foundation’s Social Work Disaster Assistance Fund to assist social workers and/or social welfare organizations who can provide help.”
- Click here to donate to The Social Work Disaster Assistance Fund
- Join our Facebook Cause
Social workers are already helping through various organizations both nationally and internationally. NASW is a member of InterAction, the largest coalition of U.S-based international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) focused on the world’s poor and most vulnerable people. Many NGO members of this coalition were active in Haiti prior to the earthquake and have been mobilizing immediate aid to survivors in the past few days. Social workers have a strong presence within these organizations. Social workers can also make contributions to organizations listed here:
- American Red Cross www.redcross.org
- InterAction member organizations active in Haiti
- United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF) –for the delivery of urgent medical care, food, and water to the victims of the earthquake in Haiti through UN agencies such as UNICEF, WHO, the World Food Program, UNDP, UNFPA, IOM.
Social workers can also help by offering disaster recovery services through organizations working in Haiti. Tragic events of this magnitude often require the expertise of social workers who can immediately provide their crisis management, community organizing and mental health support skills. Social workers with prior disaster relief experience can register with the Center for International Disaster Information to volunteer their time and expertise to this important cause. Or for those with more experience and seeking longer-term paid positions, social workers can search for vacancies with NGOs at www.reliefweb.int .
For further information about ways to get involved, visit the InterAction Web site at or the USAID Disaster Assistance page .
NASW recognizes that some of our members and friends have lost loved ones through this tragedy. Our thoughts are with those affected by this disaster. To find additional resources on coping with grief and loss, please visit Help Starts Here, the social work consumer Web site .
###
About NASW
The National Association of Social Workers (NASW), in Washington, DC, is the largest membership organization of professional social workers with 150,000 members. It promotes, develops, and protects the practice of social work and social workers. NASW also seeks to enhance the well being of individuals, families, and communities through its advocacy.
About the NASW Foundation
The NASW Foundation is a 501(c)(3) charitable organization created to enhance the well-being of individuals, families and communities through the enhancement of social work practice. One of the Foundation’s goals is to assist with rapid response to social crises.
NASW Endorses National Report Advocating For Care Of Chronic Pain
Recommendations Include Social Work Training and Mental Health Parity
In November 2009, a panel of experts released a report calling for increased interdisciplinary training on pain care and other systemic reforms to improve treatment of chronic pain throughout the United States. The panel was convened by the Mayday Fund, a family foundation dedicated to reducing human suffering caused by pain.
NASW joined 30 national organizations in endorsing the report, A Call to Revolutionize Chronic Pain Care in America: An Opportunity in Health Care Reform. The report describes chronic pain—that is, pain lasting more than six months—as “a tragically overlooked public health problem” that is frequently underaddressed, including in the current health care reform debate. Chronic pain, the report asserts, leading not only to decreased quality of life but also to unnecessary health care costs. Defining pain as a chronic illness, the report examines the physical, social, and psychological effects of untreated pain. Moreover, the report emphasizes that both adults and children experience chronic pain and highlights disparities in competent pain care related to race, ethnicity, gender, age, and class.
The report calls for multiple measures to improve pain care, including
- Universal access to primary medical providers who are competent in pain management;
- Increased access to specialists in pain medicine;
- Expanded funding from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for training social workers and other health and mental health professionals in pain assessment and management;
- Reimbursement reforms, including parity for mental health services, to promote interdisciplinary treatment of pain;
- Increased federal funding for research addressing pain management;
- Elimination of disparities in access to pain care; and
- Increased consumer education about pain management.
Click here to read the Mayday Fund report.
RELATED RESOURCES
- Use the NASW Standards for Social Work Practice in Palliative and End of Life Care .
- Learn about the distinctions between addiction, physical dependence, and tolerance of prescription pain medications.
- Listen to, or read transcripts of, Specialty Practice Section teleconferences addressing pain management:
- Read the Specialty Practice Section article, Pain: The Fifth Vital Sign.
- Find consumer-friendly information about pain and find resources on NASW’s consumer Web site, Help Starts Here.
Social Work Month 2010: Social Workers Inspire Community Action
Celebrate Social Work Month – March 2010
|
The 2010 Social Work Month
theme is “Social Workers Inspire Community Action”  |
Since its inception, the social work profession has worked to improve life for millions every day. Social workers operate from values that recognize each person as relevant to society and believe that, when needed, society should help each person achieve his or her fullest potential.
No Limitations. People choose careers in the social work profession because they believe they can make a significant impact in the lives of others through individual and group assistance. But they also recognize that effective social work practice with individuals, families and communities is affected by institutions, customs and laws that may limit the success of many.
Our Legacy. A commitment to fairness, and an intense interest in seeing others succeed by removing personal and public barriers, distinguishes social workers from other like-minded helping professionals. These values—coupled with tangible social science skills—have led social workers in history to create essential safety net programs such as unemployment insurance, health insurance, income assistance and child protection services, and to fight for a range of human and civil rights in the United States.
Our Impact. Social workers are close to the critical events that shape the quality of American life. We are on the frontlines, developing, advocating and delivering social programs that are responsive to such human needs as homelessness, poverty, family break-up, mental illness, disability, alcohol and substance abuse, domestic violence and many other issues. Social workers help people live more rewarding lives.
This year’s Social Work Month celebration showcases the expertise and dedication of professional social workers in helping to improve community life. We will promote the chosen theme “Social Workers Inspire Community Action” through three core strategies of the ongoing National Social Work Public Education Campaign:
- Consumer Education
- Entertainment Outreach
- Student Recruitment
While social workers are integral parts of all communities, the general public’s understanding of these contributions and services is still limited. Using this toolkit and related campaign materials you can help ensure that more people are exposed to positive and actionable information about the social work profession. Every social worker has a role to play, so we hope this online toolkit helps you identify and implement promotional activities that best suit your skills and interests.
SWM 2010 Toolkit Materials:
SWM 2010 Overview
Entertainment Outreach Overview
- 10 Things You Can Do to Change Social Work Media Portrayals
- Visitor’s Guide to the SocialWorkersSpeak.org Web Site
- 10 Things You Can Do to Introduce Students to Social Work
- Visitor’s Guide to BeASocialWorker.org Web Site
Resources
If you have any questions about Social Work Month 2010, please contact NASW Communications at 202-336-8212.
HIV Travel Ban Lifted in US
January 4th marked a critical moment in social change - the official end of the HIV/AIDS related entry, stay and residence restrictions (more commonly known as the “travel ban” ) in place since 1987. NASW Social Work Speaks policy statements clearly support the removal of the ban, and views this and related restrictions as discriminatory and limiting a client’s right to care and treatment.
Social workers and allied professions have long viewed the ‘travel ban’ as an affront to individual rights. Everyday experiences of clients range from not being able to re-unite with family, friends, or partners because of that persons’ HIV status to limiting equal access to health and behavioral health care services. The ban also resulted in persons with HIV/AIDS denying they were living with a chronic illness. And for untold thousands, the ban limited their ability to apply for citizenship and work visas.
The lifting of the ‘travel ban’ is a necessary next step in the ongoing efforts to address and stop the stigma and discrimination universally experienced by persons living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
HIV/AIDS Spectrum Project - www.socialworkers.org/practice/hiv_aids
Help the NASW Foundation make a difference today
Social workers changes the lives of millions people every day. The National Association of Social Workers Foundation (NASWF) is a charitable organization created to enhance the well-being of individuals, families, and communities through the advancement of social work practice
Donations to the NASW Foundation help to bring tools and resources to thousands of social workers, or makes a big difference to one individual when it is needed the most – such as Alisha Ellis, who received the Verne LaMarr Lyons Scholarship as an MSW student in 2006.
Ms. Ellis was raised in Harlem and worked as an advocate for underserved African American populations suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, mental illness and HIV/AIDS before pursuing her MSW. Today, she works in oncology and is an active NASW member.
She says, “Support from the NASW Foundation came at the start of my second summer at Smith College, enabling me to pay for books for the entire year. It was especially helpful during that time, when I frequently traveled to NYC as my father’s healthcare proxy and second caregiver. The scholarship provided some peace of mind as I juggled academic and family commitments.”
“Since 2008, I have had the privilege of working at CancerCare in New York with women diagnosed with breast and gynecologic cancer. I’m proud to be helping people at a point in their lives when support is so crucial.”
Each year, the NASW Foundation supports educational and charitable initiatives that:
* enhance social workers’ knowledge and skills
* support and honor the profession, and
* improve the health and well-being of individuals, families and communities
The Foundation is funded entirely through grants and donations, so your contribution is critical.
Your gift today of $10 or more will help bring scholarships to future social workers; research and training to current social workers; and recognition to social work leaders both current and past. Would you please consider making your gift today?
You can give on the NASW Foundation website at
https://www.socialworkers.org/foundationcampaign/onlinegiving.asp?fund=r/efund
Thanks you for your support!
How does NASW decide policy and legislative positions?
NASW has an exhaustive process to determine our public policy statements. The policy statements are compiled in Social Work Speaks, a comprehensive collection of policies adopted and revised by NASW’s key policy-making body, the Delegate Assembly. The Delegate Assembly, an elected body of 277 professional social workers representing NASW’s diverse membership, meets at regular intervals (every three years since 1981) to set broad parameters for the Association’s programs, to determine some bylaws issues, and to agree on policy statements that guide advocacy efforts in public policy. Any member can request review of a current policy statement or propose a new statement prior to the triennial meeting. All statements are automatically placed on the agenda every 9 years.
The last meeting of the Delegate Assembly occurred in 2008. The process included two comment periods for all of the new and revised policy statements by the membership prior to adoption by the delegates. Comments were reviewed by hearing panels composed of delegates who made final revisions to the statements. Delegates then voted on the final version presented to them, which appears in the book.
NASW national and chapters must advocate for policy that is in alignment with the adopted policy statements in Social Work Speaks. If a legislative proposal is consistent with the policy statement, NASW then considers additional factors, such as the overall value of the proposal, current political climate, effect on the profession and effect on our clients prior to determining support. If there is no policy statement on the issue, the Board of Directors may make a determination regarding support.
Human Rights Day – December 10, 2009
Embrace diversity. End discrimination.
Background
On December 10 the world celebrates Human Rights Day. Every year, Human Rights Day marks the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly on December 10, 1948. This year the theme is focused on non-discrimination.
The Role of Social Workers
Social work is fundamentally a human rights profession. When the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was ratified, human rights concerns had been the bedrock of the social work profession in the United States for more than 50 years. Discrimination and social exclusion based on racial and religious intolerance; gender inequality and violence; denial of the rights of women and children, refugees and older people – all are social justice issues that long have concerned social work. (NASW 2009)
The International Federation of Social Workers includes human rights in their definition of social work: “The social work profession promotes social change, problem solving in human relationships and the empowerment and liberation of people to enhance well-being. Utilizing theories of human behavior and social systems, social work intervenes at the points where people interact with their environments. Principles of human rights and social justice are fundamental to social work.”
Take Action
- Read more about Human Rights Day and human rights and social work
- Take a look at NASW’s Policy Statement on Human Rights and the International Federation of Social Work Policy Statement on Human Rights
- Spend some time browsing the Office of the United Nations Commissioner for Human Rights webpage
- Review human rights instruments that social workers may encounter in their work
References
National Association of Social Workers (2009). International Policy on Human Rights. Social Work Speaks, National Association of Social Workers Policy Statements, 2009-2012 (8th ed., pp 202-207). Washington, DC: NASW Press.
International Federation of Social Work web page, retrieved December 2009; http://www.ifsw.org/p38000212.html
New Titles from NASW Press on Treatment of Eating Disorders and Social & Economic Justice
NOW AVAILABLE
Doing What Works: An Integrative System for the Treatment of Eating Disorders from Diagnosis to Recovery
By Abigail Horvitz Natenshon
Do you have clients dealing with eating disorders? If so, Doing What Works is a great resource for treatment team professionals as they learn to treat complex cases of eating disorders through various techniques and strategies. Eating disorders, at times, leave practitioners feeling as emotionally challenged and out of control as the patients they treat. This is the first book of its kind to provide support, direction, clarity, and optimism to clinicians treating people with these disorders. Special topics include the unique aspects of diagnosis, the requirements for a versatile use of the practitioner’s self in treatment, co-morbidity, childhood eating and feeding disorders, and the significance of neuro-scientific research on the treatment of eating disorders with a focus on the impact of brain plasticity on creating remediating movement and changes toward recovery.
For more information, visit http://www.naswpress.org/publications/health/doing-what-works.html
Social Work Research Think Tank Examines Intervention Effectiveness
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 16, 2009
Contact: Gail Woods Waller
202.336.8236
gwaller@naswdc.org
New Social Work Policy Institute Launches with Nov. 16 Symposium
WASHINGTON DC—Prominent social work researchers met at the National Association of Social Workers today to examine how the social work profession might best contribute to expanding comparative effectiveness research (CER) for health and psychosocial services. The goal is to develop a profession-wide action agenda that addresses areas of enhanced social work research, researcher training, interdisciplinary collaborations, research-to-practice connections and communication efforts.
CER compares the benefits and harms of different interventions and strategies to prevent, diagnose, treat and monitor health care conditions in real world settings. The purpose of this research is to improve health outcomes by disseminating evidence-based information about the most effective services to patients, clinicians and other decision makers.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 contained $1.1 billion for such research and the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has identified 100 top priorities for policy implementation—many of which involve social work interventions.
“For decades social work researchers across the country have been investigating and evaluating what works in social service and health interventions,” said Joan Levy Zlotnik, director of the Social Work Policy Institute which hosted the meeting. “The new federal commitment to expanding research in these areas is a welcomed validation of this work, and an important call to action for the entire social work profession.”
Today’s symposium covered a range of topics, including:
-
Economic analysis of effective psychosocial interventions
-
Gaps and challenges between CER and psychosocial research
-
Effectiveness research in complex systems with special populations
-
Researcher training and capacity building
-
Linkages between social work research and practice
Continue reading ‘Social Work Research Think Tank Examines Intervention Effectiveness’