Social Work in Health Settings

Judith L.M. McCoyd, PhD, LCSW is an Associate Professor at Rutgers University School of Social Work, having served as a health social worker in perinatal, oncology, and emergency room settings in the 1980s through the early 2000s. Her research and practice lie at the intersection of physical and mental health, loss and grief, and interprofessional collaboration. Jessica Euna Lee, PhD, LSW is an Assistant Professor at Indiana University School of Social Work, having practiced as a health social worker with refugee and immigrant communities. Her research and practice focus on refugee and global health, health equity, ethics, forced migration, decolonizing practices, and community-driven interventions. Toba Schwaber Kerson, DSW, PhD is Mary Hale Chase Professor Emeritus in Social Sciences and Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College. As a Fulbright Specialist, she has lectured and consulted about social work in public health at Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Israel, and the French Social Work Training Institute in Marseille, France. In retirement, Professor Kerson continues to follow her passions for social work, public health, and civic responsibility.

0.Foreword. 1.Practice-in-Context (PiC): The Framework. Part One - Individual and Family Work in Health Settings. 2.Primer on micro practice in social work in health care: Context, skills, interventions, and best practices. Section 1.1 - Perinatal health settings. 3.Navigating the unexpected: When maternal trauma and birth intersect. 4.Ethical considerations in fetal surgery: Social workers’ role determining maternal-fetal surgery eligibility given an addiction history. Section 1.2 – Children and Youth. 5.Amelia’s big changes embodied: Cyclic vomiting syndrome or somatization. 6.Pediatric rare conditions: Working with families through diagnosis and living with illness. 7.Leadership Education in Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Program (LEND): Interprofessional work supporting rural and urban children with neuro-developmental disabilities. 8.Sam's "hatching" process: Care management for a child with gender dysphoria. Section 1.3 - Emerging Adults. 9.Carter’s struggles with an eating disorder and suicidality: Navigating eating disorder treatment spaces as a queer, mixed-race adolescent. 10.Assistive technology and developmental disability: Helping Gina find her voice. 11.Enhancing the psychosocial and sexual well-being of gender-diverse young adults within a multidisciplinary clinic. Section 1.4 - Adults. 12.Working with undocumented immigrants: Creative problem-solving when serious illness intersects with no insurance. 13.When oncology and psychosocial issues clash: A social worker’s role in a complex case with multiple barriers to care. 14.Social work practice adapts to liver transplant population shifts. 15.A functional medicine approach for complex war-related illnesses: Interprofessional teams creating benefits for personalized veteran care. 16.Smoking cessation as a social justice issue: Robert’s struggles to stop smoking. Section 1.5 - Older adulthood. 17.Competing interests: Upholding social work ethics in the for-profit dialysis setting. 18.Working with Junior: A study of collaboration, boundaries, and use of self. 19.Social work in long-term care and rehabilitation settings for older adults. 20.Joan’s hold on independence: A case of safety and self-determination. 21.Should Grandma be living by herself? The challenges of older adults with mild cognitive impairment in rural communities. 22.A good death: Accessing care at the end of life–cultural, clinical, and institutional considerations. Part Two - Program, Policy, and Public Health Social Work. 23.Primer on macro practice in social work in health care: Public health social work. Section 2.1 - Spanning boundaries across micro to macro practice. 24.Supervision: A micro through macro form of practice in health care. 25.The role of school in healthcare intervention: The benefit of daily monitoring, teamwork, and data collection. Section 2.2 - Programmatic responses to public health needs. 26.Prenatal social support for underserved women in an inner-city community. 27.Social work support for medical students: The creation of a Wellness Advisory Program. Section 2.3 - Policy responses to public health needs. 28.Contact tracing: public health in unprecedented times. 29.Dentistry & HIV positive patients: Indiana University School of Dentistry, social work team. 30.Community-based health interventions and peer support for Bhutanese refugees. Section 2.4 - Summary. 31.Conclusion.