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

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

(more…)

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

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.

Focus this week is on research that promotes sustainability and rebuilds strengths

Washington DC—From January 16-18, the Society for Social Work and Research (SSWR) is hosting its 13th Annual Conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. Over 500 symposia, workshops, roundtables, and paper and poster presentations will be offered to attending doctoral students, faculty, researchers and policy developers. Topics cover the full range of social work research and practice interventions, including child welfare, aging, mental health, depression, welfare reform, substance abuse, and HIV/AIDS. Research opportunities and strategies will also be explored in some sessions.

NASW Executive Director Elizabeth J. Clark, PhD, ACSW, MPH, said “The social work profession made a commitment at the national Social Work Congress in 2005 to actively connect research and practice through partnerships among researchers, the field, and communities. The outstanding content presented at this year’s SSWR Conference shows how much is being done by the social work educator community to advance this essential goal.”

Key presentations will be provided by:

Rick Kittles

Jeff Jenson

Barbara Major

David Abramson

Mark Rank

Gail Steketee

For more information about SSWR conference presentations: http://www.sswr.org/conferences.php

When did you decide to become a social worker?
Who influenced you?
Was there an event or person who most influenced your decision to become a social worker?

Let us know the answers to these questions below, in the comment box.

New Report from The Center for Workforce Studies
Who Wants to be a Social Worker?
Career Influences and Timing

The 2004 benchmark national study of licensed social workers provided a wealth of information about social workers’ roles and work environments. The study also raised new questions about the social work workforce that required further exploration. Although the 2004 findings pointed to a looming shortage of licensed social workers, there was still much to learn about why this was the case. In what ways did career decision points, educational debt, workplace stressors, and other factors influence the recruitment and retention of this professional workforce? The NASW Membership Workforce Study was an effort to respond to such remaining questions and to gain more insight into the social work workforce.

Social Workers at Work

The 2004 benchmark national study of licensed social workers provided a wealth of information about social workers’ roles and work environments. The study also raised new questions about the social work workforce that required further exploration. Although the 2004 findings pointed to a looming shortage of licensed social workers, there was still much to learn about why this was the case. In what ways did career decision points, educational debt, workplace stressors, and other factors influence the recruitment and retention of this professional workforce? The NASW Membership Workforce Study was an effort to respond to such remaining questions and to gain more insight into the social work workforce.

Co-published by the National Association of Social Workers and Oxford University Press
Terry Mizrahi and Larry E. Davis, Editors

The NASW Press and Oxford University Press are proud to announce the new, completely updated, revised and expanded 20th edition of the Encyclopedia of Social Work. This new edition of the Encyclopedia includes coverage of areas that have come to the fore since the 1995 publication of the 19th edition including demographic changes from immigration, technology, the implications of managed care, faith-based assistance, evidence-based practice, gerontology, and trauma and disaster. Each thoughtful article is written and signed by a top academic or social work practitioner and includes a bibliography for further reading.

Partnering with Oxford University Press for the first time, the 20th Edition endeavors to maintain the quality of the latest edition and at the same time to include new material to keep abreast of changes in the profession and society at large.

http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/encyclopedia/

Joan Levy Zlotnik’s letter to the editor was published Saturday, Aug 2nd in the Washington Post in response to their July 26th story about Cedric Jennings, who went from Ballou High School in the District to Brown University ["A Success Story With Uncertain New Chapters," Style]. Joan is the executive director of the Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research.

The July 26 story about Cedric Jennings, who went from Ballou High School in the District to Brown University ["A Success Story With Uncertain New Chapters," Style], quoted Jennings as saying he has been told he could be doing “greater” things than making a living as a social worker at the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency. That assertion seemed to be the gist of the story.

Perhaps if people better understood the complexities of social work, they would see it as more attractive and more important than working for a brokerage firm; that could lead to social work becoming more lucrative.

One of the greatest challenges that the social work profession faces today is that it is devalued by the public, by journalists and by policymakers. Social workers help people faced with life struggles, whether it’s a child abused by parents or a corporate CEO making plans to move a cognitively impaired and physically frail parent to an assisted living or nursing facility. With a lengthy article on Jennings’s soul-searching, The Post did a disservice to his decisions, the mentorship he received and the important work he is doing in our community.

Don’t we want the best and the brightest to be attracted to working with foster children or with parents who abuse their children? As a social worker, I am so proud of Cedric Jennings’s choice.

original article - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/07/25/AR2008072503379.html.

Caseload Work Group Completes First Steps Toward Development of a Caseload Calculator

NASW invites you to review and comment on the updated version of the caseload matrix and the accompanying caseload concept paper. NASW, along with the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) and other members of the Caseload Work Group, is pleased to present these documents, which provide the foundation from which a calculator to determine appropriate caseload size and case mix for case managers working in health, behavioral health, and workers’ compensation settings can be developed.

The updated caseload matrix, first posted for member and public review in August 2007, incorporates the input of social workers, nurses, and other health care professionals, administrators and planners, and labor and consumer advocates. The concept paper expands upon the elements in the caseload matrix, presents research supporting the significance of the matrix elements and the need for a caseload calculator, and documents the recommendations of the Caseload Work Group as it concludes the first phase of its work.

The caseload matrix and concept paper are available for review and comment through August 4, 2008. Please visit http://www.cmsa.org/CaseloadCalc to read the documents and submit your feedback.