The NASW Foundation is pleased to award 2020-2021 Ruth Fizdale research grants to the NASW-New Jersey Chapter and the NASW-Oklahoma Chapter. Each chapter has received a $2,000 grant. The Fizdale Program underwrites chapter research projects that link practice and policy issues with relevant, emerging, social issues, in an effort to facilitate effective service delivery. The program provides opportunities for chapters to conduct pilot research projects that may serve as cornerstones for developing more comprehensive research initiatives.
NASW-New Jersey Chapter Project
NASW-NJ Chapter proposes a two-year, multi-faceted project, Building Bridges: Increasing Access to Telemedicine in Low-Income and Rural Communities, environments where it is always a challenge to provide patients with the best level of health care.
NASW-NJ will investigate what barriers exist to social workers providing telemedicine and will develop systems and tools to increase the efficacy of telemedicine availability to low-income and rural communities. The objectives include: understand the availability and access to telemedicine services for social workers in New Jersey and to develop programs, resources, and services to increase the availability and access to telemedicine services in New Jersey.
NASW-Oklahoma Chapter Project
NASW-OK Chapter consists of social workers and social work students residing in both densely populated and rural geographic areas. NASW-Oklahoma is committed to the professional growth and development of Oklahoma social workers and assisting social workers in all regions of the state obtain continued education.
This study will examine the number of licensed social workers in each region and county of Oklahoma and supplement the workforce data by tracking the number of social workers per county with NASW-OK Chapter membership. It also will examine the current continuing education trends of social workers throughout the state. The data will cover a five-year period (2014-2019), and will be used to identify workforce development trends, ensuring social workers in all regions of the state have access to social work professional development.
The NASW Foundation will release the results of both research projects when completed.
Spotlight: NASW-Kansas Chapter 2019-2020 Study
A Ruth Fizdale research grant provided the NASW-Kansas Chapter with the resources to conduct valuable research focusing on workforce needs and capacity in Kansas. The information analyzed and compiled in the Kansas Social Work Profile will be an ongoing resource for social workers, policymakers, and legislators to make them aware of the profession’s needs. To learn more about the study and the outcomes completed through the Fizdale grant, please visit the NASW Foundation website.
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The NASW Foundation Team