Posted March 25th, 2014
By Kris Powers
“All People Matter”
The National Association of Social Workers’ (NASW) goal for Social Work Month 2014 (March) is to educate the public about the profession’s commitment to improving social conditions and opportunities for increased quality of life for everyone. The NASW believes these values are essential to improving relationships within families, making social support systems more effective, and building stronger communities.
As part of their campaign to raise awareness, the NASW is providing social workers as well as the public with education materials outlining ways in which Americans can benefit from social safety net programs. According to the NASW website:
1) NASW is expanding its expert referral program to 1,000 contacts. A new interactive tool will allow journalists and others to quickly locate knowledgeable social work sources.
2) The third-annual NASW Media Awards will recognize professionals and projects across ten categories that have showcased social work-related topics through blogs, documentaries, news articles and television programs. Winners will be announced at the end of March.
3) In partnership with the Journalism Center for Children and Families at the University of Maryland School of Journalism, NASW and the NASW Foundation will begin creating an interactive “lifeline” of twelve news stories about social workers. The project will kick off during Social Work Month and be completed in the fall of 2014.
Many social workers specialize in particular areas, such as helping children, working in the healthcare industry, assisting those life-threatening problems, or aiding people suffering from mental illnesses or substance abuse.
Social workers typically do the following:
· Act as advocates for their clients
· Assess clients’ needs, strengths and networks to help determine their goals
· Educate clients and teach clients new skills to improve their well-being
· Link clients to essential resources within the community as well as help people navigate the social services available to them such as food stamps, child care and health care
· Help clients adjust to changes and challenges in their lives
· Protect vulnerable clients and ensure that their best interests are observed
· Work directly with patients or families as part of a patient's health care team to help them address certain needs
· Research social problems and play a valuable role in creating social policy and laws
Ed4Career is proud to offer continuing education courses in the field of Behavioral Health. Please check out our complete course catalog here: https://Ed4Career.com/professional-development.
Sources:
http://psychology.about.com/od/psychologycareerprofiles/p/social-worker.htm
http://www.bls.gov/ooh/Community-and-Social-Service/Social-workers.htm#tab-2
