Celebrate Social Work Month – March 2007
 National Professional Social Work Month is the ideal time to show pride in your profession. It is the ideal time to celebrate the accomplishments of important social workers in history like Jane Addams and important current social workers like you. It is the ideal time to advocate for issues that affect social workers and their clients.
This year we have chosen health as our focus for Social Work Month 2007. The National Association of Social Workers is tuned into the pulse of the profession and knows that this is an important area of practice that affects millions of people.
Social Work Month is a terrific opportunity to promote the important work being done in the practice of health. NASW has several different initiatives that are converging this year to highlight health practice, including a Health Initiative, a grant from C-Change – Collaborating to Conquer Cancer regarding Cancer Patient Navigation and continuing education courses related to health.
Social workers involved in health work within a multidisciplinary team, hand in hand with doctors, nurses and other medical professionals to ensure quality care for their clients. Social workers in health are advocates for their clients. This high level of care starts when a client enters the health setting and continues through recovery.
Many social workers in health settings work in hospitals where they counsel clients and their families about their illness and treatment options. Social workers are trained listeners, providing help through support groups and community health centers.
The most important role of a health social worker is to help the client and his or her family to understand the illness, to work through the emotions of a diagnosis and to provide counsel about the decisions that need to be made.
Why is NASW focusing on health for National Social Work Month 2007?
In March 2007, NASW will launch its Health Initiative to accomplish the following:
- To promote the professional development and advancement of health social workers
- To elevate and advance the health social work role in practice, policy, education and leadership
- To improve the public understanding of social workers in health.
Marrying Social Work Month 2007 with the Health Initiative, NASW will promote the following key health projects:
This online tool kit includes:
- Information about Key NASW Activities – the National Social Work Public Education Campaign and the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative
- Facts about Social Work and Health
- Press Release Template
- Sample Letter to the Editor
- Sample Op-ed
- Social Work Month Proclamation
- Public Service Announcements
- Media outreach tips
- Suggestions for leveraging Social Work Month 2007
If you have any questions about Social Work Month 2007, please contact NASW Communications at media@naswdc.org.
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