NASW members Barbara Anderson Head (photo right), of Louisville, Ky.; Luba Shagawat (photo center), of Wayne, N.J.; and Karen Sowers (photo left), of Knoxville, Tenn., were elected to the National Academies of Practice in honor of their achievements and contributions to the health care profession.
Membership in the NAP is extended to those who have excelled in their profession and are dedicated to furthering practice, scholarship and policy in support of interprofessional care. NAP works to advise public policymakers of health care issues using expert practitioners and scholars joined in an interdisciplinary dialogue.
In addition to social work, the 10 academies of practice within the NAP include: dentistry, medicine, nursing, optometry, osteopathic medicine, pharmacy, podiatric medicine, psychology and veterinary medicine.
At the March 2013 general assembly of the Social Work Hospice and Palliative Care Network, NASW members Terry Altilio (photo left) and Grace Christ (photo right) each received the Project on Death in America Career Achievement Award.
The award recognizes social workers who have advanced the development or improvement of psychosocial palliative care for individuals with chronic illness, individuals in hospice, or those confronting grief, loss and bereavement and for having national or international impact in the field.
Altilio is the coordinator of social work for the Department of Pain Medicine and Palliative Care at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City and co-editor, with Shirley Otis-Green, of the 2011 “Oxford Textbook of Palliative Social Work.” Christ is a professor at the Columbia University School of Social Work and chairwoman of the SWHPN board.
Marilyn Flynn, dean of the University of Southern California School of Social Work, recently received the President’s Volunteer Service Award.
An article published on the school’s website says the award program is an initiative of the Corporation for National and Community Service, which recognizes outstanding volunteers who set a standard for service, encourage a sustained commitment to civic participation and inspire others to make service a central part of their lives.
The article quotes from a letter that President Barack Obama wrote to Flynn: “In my inaugural address, I state that we need a new era of responsibility – recognition on the part of every American that we have duties to ourselves, our nation and the world.”
“These are duties that we do not grudgingly accept, the letter says, “but rather seize gladly, firm in the knowledge that there is nothing so satisfying to the spirit than giving our all to a difficult task. Your volunteer service demonstrates the kind of commitment to your community that moves America a step closer to its great promise.”
Clinical professor Murali Nair, who has been affiliated with the corporation for 25 years as a consultant and grant application reviewer, nominated Flynn for the award, the USC article says.