Credential designed for social workers who specialize in hospice and palliative care

Washington, DC – The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) has partnered with the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO) to develop a baccalaureate level credential for social workers who specialize in hospice and palliative care. The Certified Hospice and Palliative Social Worker (CHP-SW) designation is now available for bachelor’s social workers with experience and expertise in end-of-life issues for patients and their caregivers.

The CHP-SW credential was designed by social workers who are leaders in the field for social workers who have demonstrated compliance with national standards of excellence. This credential highlights the professionalism of social workers who have received post-education specialty training in hospice and palliative care, and demonstrates the social worker’s commitment to and expertise in end-of-life services. An advanced level of the credential was launched last fall for social workers licensed at the master’s level.

“We know that bachelor’s level social workers play an equally important role in providing hospice and palliative care to patients and families,” says Elizabeth Clark, PhD, MSW, MPH, executive director of NASW.  “NASW and NHPCO recognized the need for highly qualified social workers to be recognized at all education levels, and are pleased to introduce this much anticipated credential for BSW social workers.”

Certified social workers in hospice and palliative care provide a professional continuum of services addressing the biopsychosocial needs of patients and families affected by serious and life-limiting illnesses in order to maintain or improve their quality of life.

“Hospices rely on the expertise of professional social workers at both the bachelor’s and master’s levels to provide care and support to patients and families during the last months of life,” says J. Donald Schumacher, PsyD, president and CEO of the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization. “This new credential recognizes those at the bachelor’s level who have invested in their professional development to ensure patients and families receive the highest quality care possible.”
The collaboration between NASW and NHPCO enhances the depth of the hospice credential, with NASW addressing evolving social work issues, while NHPCO focuses on emerging issues in hospice and palliative care.

Some of the basic requirements for the hospice and palliative care credential include:

• A bachelor’s  degree in social work from an accredited university,
• Where applicable, a professional  social work license in the jurisdiction of practice
• At least two years of supervised social work experience in hospice and palliative care,
• 20 or more CEU’s related specifically to the specialty practice,
• A commitment to compliance with NASW Code of Ethics and the NASW Standards for End of Life Care,
• Membership in NASW and NHPCO.

For more information or to apply for the Hospice Credential, please email credentialing@naswdc.org or visit www.socialworkers.org/credentials.

For Immediate Release
May 15, 2009

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) expresses shock and sadness at the recent deaths of five soldiers at a US military counseling clinic in Baghdad, including Navy Commander Charles K. Springle, a licensed clinical social worker.  Cmdr. Springle was based out of the community counseling center at Camp Lejeune before he was deployed to Iraq in 2008.  Springle’s friend Bob Goodale told The Associated Press that Springle had dedicated his life to helping service members cope with emotional problems caused by combat stress.

Sergeant John M. Russell was charged with five counts of murder and one count of aggravated assault in the shooting.  According to the New York Times, the “killings appear to be the single deadliest episode of solider-on-soldier violence among American forces since the United States-led invasion six years ago.”  Defense Secretary Robert Gates commented that, “Such a tragic loss of life at the hands of our own forces is a cause of great and urgent concern.”

NASW urges the Department of Defense and President Obama to evaluate the impact that multiple deployments and mental health staffing levels are having on our service men and women.  As Patrick Campbell of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America told CBS News, “These are the canaries in the mine. If we don’t start addressing these issues people are getting more and more injured and it’s going to get harder to treat them.”

Deployments are longer, redeployment to combat is common, and breaks between deployments are infrequent.  Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America states that, “Since September 11, 2001, troops have regularly had their tours extended and as of June 2008, more than 638,000 troops have been deployed more than once.”  These multiple deployments are creating additional exposure to traumatic events.

According to the Army’s Mental Health Advisory Team (MHAT), soldiers deployed to Iraq for more than six months, or deployed more than once, are much more likely to be diagnosed with psychological injuries.  In surveys of troops redeploying to Iraq, 20 to 40 percent “still had symptoms of past concussions, including headaches, sleep problems, depression, and memory difficulties. Even after getting home, those who had deployed for longer periods are still at higher risk for PTSD.

According to the Department of Defense Mental Health Task Force, the military has fewer mental health professionals now than it did when the United States invaded Iraq in 2003.  The military is finding it difficult to recruit and retain mental health professionals because of the toll that all deployments have on individuals.  The same report found that the military is having trouble maintaining sufficient mental health staff levels for the same reasons that they have meeting recruiting goals.  Mental health professionals, concerned about the negative effects of protracted deployments on family life, believe they can be paid better to do more rewarding work outside of the military, and as a result, young people are no longer applying for internships within the armed forces.  Almost one in three soldiers in Iraq say it is difficult to get to a mental health specialist.

This horrific situation presents an opportunity to reevaluate the mental health needs of our service members and ensure that those needs are being met, with active-duty military members as well as our nation’s veterans.

Contact:
Elizabeth Franklin
(202) 408-8600
efranklin@naswdc.org

We invite you to visit the National Association of Social Workers’ Official Facebook Fan Page, become a fan today and post your introduction on our Wall.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1034770689&ref=profile#/pages/National-Association-of-Social-Workers/16695101734?sid=a362153f85ae1e31a97ff8dcdb04508d&ref=search

NASW also has 2 official Facebook groups where you can post introductions and network with onther social workers online:
Official NASW General Group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10886145903

Official NASW Social Work Students Group
http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=60929389402&ref=mf

Please pass this information on to other social workers and social work students who would be interested in networking online via Facebook.

NASW Social Media Team
http://www.socialworkers.org
Follow NASW on Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/nasw

Read what social workers have to say - Click here to view the PDF.

Every day in their work with individuals, families and communities, social workers see first-hand the devastating costs and consequences of poverty and unemployment. Joblessness and economic insecurity can lead to more incidences of mental illness, family violence, suicide, substance abuse and crime.

Social workers are seeing increasing effects of the current economic crisis in their work. Economic insecurity presents a double-edged sword for social workers. While they work to provide essential community services such as counseling, crisis intervention and resource referrals to families in need, social workers are also directly affected by growing job losses, reduced budgets and low salaries.

This factsheet highlights some of the key concerns that social workers have about the current state of the economy, as well as how social workers are getting involved to help.