NASW Kentucky Chapter: Connect to End COVID-19
During the three-year Connect to End COVID-19 campaign the NASW Kentucky Chapter implemented Chapter communications and outreach in Kentucky on behalf of the initiative (2022-2024) and hosted a MI-SBIRT Training (2022) in collaboration with the UT Austin HBRT team.
The Kentucky Chapter was one of 21 NASW Chapters that partnered with the NASW National Connect to End COVID-19 team in implementing a wide array of communications and outreach activities aimed at promoting vaccine confidence. Communications channels ranged from newsletters and targeted emails to NASW Chapter websites, Social Media, and in-person outreach to social workers at Chapter conferences and other events.
The Kentucky Chapter also was one of 30 NASW Chapters that collaborated with UT Austin’s HBRT, in hosting 27 virtual MI-SBIRT trainings across the United States, primarily in states with low vaccination rates and high levels of vaccine hesitancy. These interactive trainings, led by HBRT trainers, introduced MI and SBIRT, and how these evidence-based modalities can be effectively deployed to help guide collaborative conversations with clients about COVID-19 vaccine decision-making. The complimentary, six-hour (one-day) trainings, included five complimentary CEUs for currently practicing, licensed NASW social work members.
NASW Kentucky Chapter Interview: Outcomes
Brenda Rosen, MSW, CSW—Executive Director, NASW Kentucky Chapter
‘Kentucky Proud’ is how we speak when something is a good reflection on our bluegrass state. NASW-KY is Kentucky Proud of the work we have done with the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and NASW across the pandemic and beyond. Here in Kentucky, free programs for social workers continuing education for licensure are greatly appreciated because social workers are often working more than one job just to make ends meet due to the lower salary standards in such a poor state.
The quality of the Connect to End COVID-19 webinars was exceptional and access to them 24/7 worked well with our work/life balance. The MI-SBIRT training was well received here, and we are Kentucky Proud of how many social workers and students attended and brought the important discussions and information back to their agencies, clients, and communities. It also provided a time for us to reflect and share stories about the impact of COVID-19 on our lives during a time we felt helpless as we watched many of our loved ones, friends, co-workers, and strangers suffer and die from COVID-19.
One of the important topics during the COVID-19 programs focused on special populations and in a state like Kentucky, that was a critical connection for social workers and students across our rural and urban areas. From home to the highest percentage of Congolese refugees in the country, to those who experienced catastrophic loss caused by the flooding and tornadoes that obliterated towns across Kentucky, to a state with one of the highest rates of incarceration in the world, we were desperate for scientific and fact-based messaging to help our citizens and clients to remain safe and protect their health as much as possible during the deadly pandemic.
In a state that is very politically polarized, the opportunity to promote lifesaving medical information and resources also supported our efforts to build messaging with the valuable tools to keep Kentuckians alive. And the inspiring stories of some faith-based communities opening their doors for clinics and vaccines helped to balance some of the unfortunate rhetoric that spread the disinformation about COVID-19 in their regions that kept some people from getting vaccinated.
The most recent webinar on May 8: COVID-19 Year 5: Are We Prepared for the Next Pandemic? was a very important message about what lies ahead in our future as we move from COVID-19 and question what lies ahead in the event of another deadly pandemic. As always, even though the content can be emotionally unsettling especially as we face our grief from what we each experienced, the format and presenters spoke with calm reasoning and a quiet confidence that helped to share a message we all need to reflect upon. Every one of us faced our own fears of loss as we engaged, educated, and empowered our clients and communities. The information and resources shared during all of the webinars can continue to be applied to additional challenges we busy social workers and students face in other potentially life altering events and experiences.
As the NASW-KY Executive Director, I am indeed ‘Kentucky Proud’ of the collaborative work between the CDC, NASW, and each of our 55 chapters to highlight these important webinars. Our NASW-KY members were kept up to date in our monthly newsletters, our NASW-KY Facebook page grew an international following, and we heard plenty of positive comments about the free webinars and how grateful people were to get the information and the continuing education. We worked tirelessly to make sure our mental health communities had access to the multitude of information and resources and applied this knowledge to inspire their clients to maintain good physical and mental healthcare during the pandemic and as we slowly return to a new normal.
NASW Kentucky Chapter Communications: Campaign Highlights