Behavioral Health Practice Tools

This Alcohol Awareness Month, social workers can dispel common myths about drinking, including the belief that there is a safe time or amount of alcohol to drink while pregnant. For a healthy pregnancy, avoiding alcohol and other substances is the safest thing to do. And if a client is drinking while pregnant, everyday counts. The sooner the drinking stops, the better for the baby. Learn more in this new NASW Social Work Blog post.

NASW Task Force for Serious Illness: Palliative and End of Life Care is please to announce the attached draft practice standards for public comment, Serious Illness: Palliative and End of Life Care. The draft standards offer guidance to social workers in all settings where palliative and end of life services occur. They offer guidance to social workers and serve as benchmark for services social workers provide. We value your input and encourage you to review the document.

In late 2024 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the 2025 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). This 1,348-page rule updates policies and payments for clinical social workers (CSWs) and other Medicare providers; these changes, in turn, affect health coverage for beneficiaries. Changes related to payments and other Medicare Part B policies addressed in the PFS take effect on or after January 1, 2025.

Substance use during pregnancy is common: about 1 in 7 pregnant people drink alcohol, 1 in 20 binge drink, and 4 in 10 of those who drink also use other substances, most frequently tobacco and cannabis. January is Birth Defects Awareness Month, a call to action for social workers to share a key message: for a healthy pregnancy, it is safest to avoid alcohol, smoking, and other recreational drugs.

Effective January 1, 2025, clinical social workers will be able to seek reimbursement for Safety Planning and Follow-up Interventions. Establishment of these payment services is an important step by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to help address the growing suicide and overdose populations.

Seasonal affective disorder (SAD) is most prevalent during the fall and winter months. During these months, some people may experience depressive symptoms when daylight decreases at the end of the summer. Sadly, many people do not receive a diagnosis for SAD because it can manifest as other disorders like bipolar disorder.