Health Practice Tools

The Specialized Practice Curricular Guide for Health Social Work is now available to enhance teaching about health social work. It was developed as part of the Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) 2015 EPAS Curricular Guide Series, and it is one deliverable of Social Work Healthcare Education and Leadership Scholars (HEALS), a multi-faceted grant funded by the New York Community Trust (NYCT). Social Work HEALS was implemented as a collaborative endeavor between national organizations, NASW, NASW Foundation, and CSWE, to strengthen social work leadership in health care education, practice, research, and policy. The Curricular Guide for Health Social Work Task Force included representatives from social work education programs that participated in Social Work HEALS and NASW staff.

The COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) is expected to end in early 2023, ending the continuous enrollment requirement in Medicaid and CHIP. State Medicaid and CHIP agencies will start the redetermination process for all enrollees when the PHE ends. This is a critical time for social workers to help individuals and families anticipate the redetermination process that will happen in the months ahead. This blog is intended to provide an overview of unwinding and strategies that social workers can use to help reduce coverage losses.

It is important for social workers to develop a deep understanding about the ways in which the environment and individual health outcomes are interconnected. This Practice Perspectives describes the connection between human health and features of the environment including weather, air, and food. It highlights efforts within the social work profession to bring environmental health issues to the forefront and to advance practices and policies that are beneficial to people, communities, and the natural environment.

Social workers play integral roles in helping clients understand, access, and navigate Social Security benefits. This Practice Alert provides updates on field office reopenings and other recent developments within the Social Security Administration. It concludes with NASW advocacy related to Social Security.