How Social Workers Can Make a Difference September 2022 Binge drinking and heavy alcohol use during pregnancy have increased over the past decade, according to a new study in JAMA Network Open. In fact, from 2011 to 2020, binge drinking among pregnant women increased nearly 9 percent a year, while heavy drinking increased by more than 11 percent a year, ... Read More »
We want to know what you know—and wish you knew—about client alcohol use. Eight minutes is all it takes to help us better train and educate social workers who serve women, families, and others who may be at risk for alcohol-related problems, including alcohol use disorders and alcohol-exposed pregnancies. Your responses will be completely anonymous. NASW, along with other leading medical groups, ... Read More »
Alcohol-exposed pregnancies (AEPs) are more common than you might think: according to a new study, an estimated 54 percent of children in the United States are exposed to alcohol before they’re born. The high prevalence of AEPs surprised even the study’s authors, who looked for what might be driving the trend. The answer? Unintended pregnancies—from when women drank without knowing ... Read More »
More than a year into the pandemic, the research is in: COVID-19 has taken a toll on women’s health, including increased levels of risky drinking. According to a study in JAMA Network Open, the number of days when women drank heavily – having four or more drinks in a couple of hours – increased by 41 percent compared to a ... Read More »
By Diana Ling, MA, Outreach Program Coordinator; and Leslie Sirrianni, LCSW, Training Coordinator; Health Behavior Research and Training Institute, Steve Hicks School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin High-risk drinking among women has increased significantly over the past decade, and the coronavirus pandemic seems to have made the problem worse. A recent study in JAMA Network Open compared ... Read More »
By Diana Ling, MA, Outreach Program Coordinator, Health Behavior Research and Training Institute, Steve Hicks School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, and Takia Richardson, LICSW, LCSW, NASW Senior Practice Associate, Behavioral Health According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about one in nine pregnant women say they have had at least one drink in ... Read More »
By Diana Ling, MA, Outreach Program Coordinator, Health Behavior Research and Training Institute, Steve Hicks School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin, and Takia Richardson, LICSW, LCSW, NASW Senior Practice Associate, Behavioral Health National Women’s Health Week, May 10 through May 16, is an opportunity for all women to take five steps to better health: Eat healthy; exercise; ... Read More »
By Takia Richardson, LICSW, LCSW, NASW Senior Practice Associate, Behavioral Health, and Diana Ling, Outreach Program Coordinator, Health Behavior Research and Training Institute, Steve Hicks School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin Alcohol screening and brief intervention (SBI) is an evidence-based tool backed by more than 30 years of research. Yet most people have not talked to a ... Read More »
By Takia Richardson, LICSW, LCSW, NASW Senior Practice Associate, Behavioral Health, and Diana Ling, Outreach Program Coordinator, Health Behavior Research and Training Institute, Steve Hicks School of Social Work, University of Texas at Austin Social workers are needed on the front lines of a growing women’s health issue: risky drinking. Women’s rates of deaths tied to alcohol increased 85 percent ... Read More »
Serious health effects, a simple prevention message: no alcohol use during pregnancy. Prenatal alcohol exposure is the most common preventable cause of intellectual and developmental delays and disabilities in the United States. It is estimated that up to one in 20 U.S. school children are living with fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs), a group of lifelong cognitive, behavioral and, in some ... Read More »
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