Dear Social Work Student –

Is your school using the Professional Social Worker pin to recognize graduating students?

Ask your school to consider the silver-plated Professional Social Worker pin at commencement. Just $10 each for schools of social work, the pins distinguish Social Work from other programs on campus, and instill pride in the profession.

All funds from the Social Work pins support the National Social Work Public Education Campaign, raising public awareness of the irreplaceable benefits of Professional Social Work. More than 100 social work schools and programs participate in the campaign. We invite your school to join us!

Sincerely,

Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH President, NASW Foundation Executive Director, NASW

P.S. – Send us your photos of you and the Professional Social Worker pin! We’d love to include you in campaign materials in print and on the Web.

For those that are interested in ongoing discussions online, visit www.socialworkchat.org on Sundays and Tuesdays from 9 - 10 PM EST.

March Schedule:
Sun, March 7th Share ideas for celebrating Social Work Month
Tues, March 9th Case Consultation
Sun, March 14th Our Online Social Work Month VIRTUAL CELEBRATION!
Tues, March 16th Best Book Recommendations for SW Practice
Sun, March 21st The New DSM
Tues, March 23rd Creative and Unusual Work Settings for SW
Sun, March 28th Social Work Practice with Child Sexual Abuse

There are ongoing discussions on bulletin boards if you can’t make regularly scheduled chats.  You can sign up for a free account at www.socialworkchat.org.

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

Find out where to take your career and how to get there!  The NASW Center for Workforce Studies has compiled survey results, indentified decision points, and classified the social work labor force to help you understand your place on the professional spectrum.  These reports are must haves for any social worker looking to equipt themselves for the current workforce demands.

Your feedback is needed:  Share your experiences:  Complete the survey

CLICK TO ORDER

The Results Are In: What Social Workers Say About Social Work

NASW Center for Workforce Studies, Tracy Whitaker, DSW, ACSW, Director

2009. Item #B200. 66 pages. $24.99

CLICK TO ORDER

Workforce Trends Affecting the Profession 2009

NASW Center for Workforce Studies, Tracy Whitaker, DSW, ACSW

2009. Item #B100. Booklet. 28 pages.  $9.99

NASW was pleased to be a co-chair organization of the National Conference on Health and Domestic Violence, held in New Orleans, Louisiana, this past week. The Family Violence Prevention Fund hosted this fifth biennial conference, which addressed domestic violence and health. Domestic violence is often seen as a public health problem, and the role health care providers can play in preventing violence and helping victims is well recognized.

At the opening session, the audience was addressed by Lynn Rosenthal, a social worker and longtime advocate, who is the White House Advisor to the President and Vice President on Violence Against Women. The keynote speaker was Eve Ensler, a playwright, performer, and activist and the author of The Vagina Monologues and the founder of V-Day, the global movement to end violence against women and girls.

Many social workers presented their research on intimate partner violence, its health and mental health consequences, and the burden placed on families, communities, and our nation. NASW staff and members were represented on the national conference steering committee and on panel and individual presentations that addressed innovative and promising practice, scientific reports, and skill building.

- Rita A. Webb, DCSW, ACSW

The October issue of Social Work (Vol. 54, No. 4) covers a wide range of topics important to social work and social workers, from questions surrounding consumer-driven health care to issues involving child welfare worker caseloads. Below is a sampling of what’s inside the issue. Download the table of contents of the October Social Work Journal here.

• New Practice Model for Latinos in Need of Social Work Services
  Kurt C. Organista
  Does your work assist the Latino community?  Learn more about new practices presented in a model that thoroughly describes the four dimensions of culturally competent practice essential to working with U.S. Latino populations.
• The Big Picture: How Social Work Can Effectively Utilize Photographs
  Heather L. Marshall, Sarah W. Craun, and Matthew T. Theriot
  A picture is worth a thousand words….Examine the use of photography as a powerful tool for promoting positive attitudes about social work at an adult day care program.
• Civilian Social Work: Serving the Military and Veteran Populations
  Laura Savitsky, Maria Illingworth, and Megan DuLaney
  Help those that serve our country. Civilian social workers acknowledge their responsibility to competently aid military and veteran clients.

The National Health Service Corps (NHSC), through scholarship and loan repayment programs, helps Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs) in the U.S. obtain a sufficient number of fully qualified medical, dental, and mental health providers essential to meet their populations’ critical need for safe and fundamental health care.

Purpose of the National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program (NHSC LRP)

The purpose of the NHSC LRP is to ensure that an adequate supply of health professionals are available to provide primary health services to populations located in select Health Professional Shortage Areas (HPSAs), identified by the Secretary of Health and Human Services. HPSAs can be found in rural and urban communities across the nation. The NHSC LRP recruits fully trained health professionals who agree to provide primary health services in NHSC community sites. In return, the NHSC LRP assists clinicians in their repayment of qualifying educational loans that are still outstanding.

Now accepting applications for Loan Repayment Awards. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act designated $200 million to fund the NHSC LRP. Applications will be accepted continuously until funds are expended or September 30, 2010, whichever comes first.

The National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program provides $50,000 (or the outstanding balance of qualifying student loans, if less than $50,000), tax free, to medical, dental, and mental health clinicians in exchange for two years of service at approved sites in Health Professional Shortage Areas. Upon completion of the service commitment, clinicians may be eligible to apply for additional support for extended service. Most applications will be processed within eight weeks of the submission of a complete application (i.e., on-line application, supplemental paper forms, and required documentation).

The National Health Service Corps Loan Repayment Program provides many benefits. Be sure you stay in compliance with the requirements of your in-service contract. Click here for a list of the in-service obligations.

National Health Service Corps loan repayment participants will be working under one of three types of assignments while serving their obligations. For more information about the Practice Assignments, click here.

Below are links to more information about the program and application process: (more…)

Mirean Coleman, MSW, LICSW, CT
September 2009

NASW would like to hear from clinical social workers and others who have encountered problems in providing mental health services to Medicare beneficiaries who are actively receiving home health care services under Medicare Part A. The association is also seeking information about the impact of situations in which Medicare beneficiaries receiving home care services were unable to acquire or continue with mental health services provided by a clinical social worker.

Under the Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1989 (OBRA’89) (P.L. 101-239) clinical social workers are currently unable to seek reimbursement for services provided in a home health care setting because they are restricted to filing claims under Medicare Part B services. NASW is advocating for a change in federal statute or regulation that would allow Medicare beneficiaries receiving home health benefits to obtain or continue with mental health services provided by a clinical social worker. The association values members’ input in this process. Comments can be submitted online at psyhomecare@naswdc.org until November 20, 2009.

Visit www.socialworkers.org/practice/clinical for more information on Clinical Social Work.

The August issue of Health & Social Work (Vol. 34, No. 3) covers a wide range of topics important to social work and social workers, with the “Viewpoint” feature article by Rep. Carol Shea-Porter (NH-1) on posttraumatic stress disorder. Below is a sampling of what’s inside the issue. Download the table of contents of the August Health & Social Work Journal here.

• Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Government Initiatives to Relieve It
Carol Shea-Porter
The stressors inherent in military service in the current Iraq and Afghanistan theaters, compounded by multiple tours of duty and shrinking times between deployments, have created a mental health crisis among our military men and women—one that can be just as profound for veterans as it can be for active-duty troops. This article by Rep. Carol Shea-Porter(NH-1), member of the House Armed Services Committee, addresses what the armed services and U.S. government are doing to address this crisis—in particular the prevalence of posttraumatic stress disorder—and looks ahead to what more needs to be done.

• Parent Mentoring and Child Anticipatory Guidance with Latino and African American Families
Michaela L. Z. Farber
Poor child health and developmental outcomes are linked to scarcity of economic resources, barriers to health service delivery, and inadequate parenting. A preventive two-year parent mentoring project, theoretically anchored in the transactional model of child development, resulted in statistically-significant positive changes in parent and child outcomes for families receiving well-baby care at an urban primary health care center. In addition to numerous practical benefits, the intervention had implications for collaborative multidisciplinary practice.

• Sexuality and Life-Threatening Illness: Implications for Social Work and Palliative Care
John G. Cagle and Sage Bolte
Addressing sexuality with terminally ill patients and their families is frequently a social worker’s responsibility, yet little direction exists regarding how to approach this difficult subject in the context of palliative care. On the basis of a critical analysis of the literature on sexuality and terminal illness, this article addresses systemic barriers to the expression of sexuality in palliative care settings and provides numerous practical recommendations for social workers serving clients in such settings.

BusinessWeek Magazine’s health care-themed August 17th issue includes an article on eldercare, titled “A Pro in Your Corner.” Focusing on the role and expertise of geriatric care managers among the vast network of caregivers, the article’s sidebar, “Decoding the Credentials,” specifically included NASW’s Case Management credentials. The master’s level Certified Advanced Social Worker in Case Management (C-ASWCM), and the baccalaureate degree Certified Social Work Case Manager (C-SWCM) distinguish the professional social work case manager from those not specifically trained and accomplished in the case management practice model. Visit the NASW Credential Center Web page to learn more.