A Conversation With Rebecca Onie, CEO of Health Leads
The Atlantic
Because Medicaid does not generally reimburse for social workers, case managers, or community health workers under the prevailing “fee for service” payment structure, each clinic must carve out precious discretionary funds from its operating budget for this purpose—resulting in limited capacity to address the real factors impacting patient health.

Some seek adventure at midlife
Poughkeepsie Journal
Ellen Smith, a licensed clinical social worker and professional life coach in Poughkeepsie, said doing something new and exciting can be life-affirming. “When people move out of their comfort zone they’re really re-energizing themselves,” she said. “They’re really pushing themselves to learn skills.”

Life after hate: Former gang member gets chance to share story of violent past
Journal Times
And much of it seems to have come together by chance, according to the 42-year old, who has earned both bachelor’s and master’s degrees in social work since his release. “Life has been like that since I’ve gotten it together,” said Rangel.

Open letter to Mayor Lee about violence in Bayview Hunters Point
San Francisco Bay View
2) Establish a preference for police academy candidates that have a social work degree, and require that all academy participants enroll in a San Francisco City College class on social work, in order to ensure that our law enforcement personnel are better attuned to social causes of crime and the spirit of social justice generally.

Language and culture, health literacy, health insurance and immigrant status create vast differences in the quality of health care among Asian Americans, according to social work professors Wooksoo Kim and Robert H. Keefe.

“Asian Americans are considered a ‘model minority,’ which prevents many Asian Americans from getting help when they need it, and this study addresses that issue,” Kim said. “There is a dire need to expand our knowledge regarding better health care services for Asian Americans.”

To learn more about the study, read this article at sify.com or this article at the University at Buffalo news center.

To find out more about how social workers help clients get better health care, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Health & Wellness Web page by clicking there.

Tina Staley. Photo courtesy of Duke University Health System.

Kudos to the Aspen Times in Colorado for this article on a documentary about social worker and National Association of Social Workers member Tina Staley.

After seeing the treatment her brother received for cancer, Staley started an organization in 2000 to provide more hands-on, caring services to people suffering from cancer and other conditions. She later teamed up with marriage and family counselor Kristin MacDermott and changed the organization’s name to Pathfinder.

Ted Bogosian, a documentary filmmaker who has done work for PBS and HBO, filmed Staley’s story. “What Love Is: Pathfinders,” premiered in Aspen on Feb. 12 and Bogosian hopes it will eventually be shown at film festivals and on television.

“This film is about social change,” Staley said. “It’s about changing the way we look at health care in America, to a more human and caring way. Because we’re in an epidemic.”

To learn more about how social workers such as Staley help people cope with illness, visit the NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Health & Wellness Web page by clicking here.

Scene from Miami Medical.

TV Question:  There are many hospital programs on TV and CBS is ready to release a new one, “Miami Medical,” in April. Social workers play a vital role in health care. Do you think television programming reflects this?

For more information on how social workers help people in health care and nursing home environments, visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Health and Wellness and Seniors and Aging Web pages.

Photo courtesy of U.S. News & World Report.

Cheers to U.S. News & World Report for this article that says medical and public health social work will be one of the fastest growing careers  in 2010 and beyond. Here’s an excerpt:

“Medical and public health social workers held 139,000 jobs in 2009. Over the next decade, that figure is expected to climb by 31,000, or more than 22 percent, a rate much faster than average. That’s because of the aging of the baby boomer generation, which is beefing up the need for social workers in nursing homes and in home healthcare settings.”

Q: Are you a social worker who works in a hospital or nursing home? Would you encourage more social work students and professional social workers to pursue this career path?

To find out more about how social workers help provide services to senior citizens and help people maintain their health visit the National Association of Social Workers’ “Help Starts Here” Web pages on Health & Wellness by clicking here and the Seniors & Aging Web pages by clicking here.

Susan Parish

The recession  is adding a greater financial burden to some of our nation’s most vulnerable families — those with disabled children.

More than a quarter of low-income families are spending three percent of their total household income on their disabled children’s health care needs, according to a study from social work researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Washington University in St. Louis, Mo. Read the full story here.

That adds up to about $1,200 a year for a family of four living at the federal poverty level, said Susan Parish, Ph.D., an associate professor at the UNC School of Social Work and lead study investigator. That may not sound like much, but is a big expense for poorer families, she said.

“The current recession makes the situation for families much worse,” said Parish, who is a member of the National Association of Social Workers. ” We must consider what families are forgoing if they are spending such a high proportion of their income on their children.”

Some may be struggling to pay for housing and food, researchers said.

To find out how social workers help people with disabilities visit the NASW’s “Help Starts Here” Disabilities Web page.

Niels Tangherlini. Photo by Luke Thomas, FogCityJournal.com

Cheers to the Washington Post Magazine for its article on a ”frequent flier,” a homeless man who repeatedly used ambulances and emergency rooms for basic medical care.

“The Treatment of Kenny Farnsworth,” also put a positive spotlight on California social worker Niels Tangherlini. Tangherlini is also a paramedic and wanted to find a solution for the “frequent flier” problem.

So in 2004 he formed a team of social workers, paramedics and nurse practioners to provide early treatment for San Francisco residents who overused emergency services.

Thanks to Tangherlini the top 911 users dropped their ambulance use by 80 percent in just a year and a half, the article said. Other cities are now duplicating his program.

“A lot of the problems these folks suffer from are things that are not fixable with an ambulance or emergency room,” Tangherlini said.

Q: Social workers often work to find solutions to pressing issues  such as health care services and family counseling. Have you heard of more heroes such as Tangherlini who are creating valuable programs to serve their communities?

The article said although unemployment has risen there is increased demand for medical social workers. To view the article click on the title below:

Baton Rouge Business Report Article on Social Workers in Health Care

And to find out more about the role of social workers in health care vist the NASW Health Web page by clicking here .

These tasks include doing home visits, reducing child abuse incidents, and helping families gain economic security. Head warns this is the wrong way to go and Congress could battle these problems by boosting spending on social services:

“Congress could address human services disparities more effectively if it adequately funded social work–but trying to subcontract social work through the health care system, creating a two-tiered system where nurses act like social workers but don’t have the power or the training to do the job right, is a recipe for disaster. It’s not even an efficient use of funds, when we consider the fact that nurses make substantially more money, on average, than social workers (an average of +/-$42,000/year versus +/-$33,000/year).”

The National Association of Social Workers is also urging Congress pass the Dorothy I. Height and Whitney M. Young Jr. Social Work Reinvestment Act (H.R. 795 and S. 686). The bill would help prevent a pending shortage of trained social workers.

Michael B. Friedman. Photo Courtesy of Columbia University.

National Association of Social Workers member Michael B. Friedman MSW is quoted in a recent New York Times article, “How to Find Mental Health Care When Money Is Tight.” Friedman said not all mental health problems such as worry over a job loss require a therapist.

The story also recommended folks enlist the services of graduate students in social work or clinical psychology because their fees are often lower. That strategy had the folks here at Social Works Speak! wondering so we decided to ask you this question:

Q: Do you think folks looking for low-cost mental health care should hire social work graduate students or use the services of professional social workers? Please leave comments below.

And to find out how social workers help people overcome mental illness visit the NASW Behavioral Health Web page or the “Help Starts Here” Web page on Mind and Spirit.

“Two days after surgery to replace both my knees, a social worker employed by the hospital told me that the insurance company would not pay for me to stay any longer. Seeing that I was barely able to get to the bathroom on my own, she told the company I was not ready to enter rehab and insisted that I needed at least another day in the hospital.

She was right, and I was grateful for the intervention…[read full article]“