There are two things I know for sure about social work and public health:
One: Social work and public health are naturally complimentary fields, perfectly suited to advance community health and wellbeing.
Two: People are just as confused about what public health is as they are with social work.
A struggle with social work is, because the profession is so diverse, most have a narrow view of what social workers do. While most only associate social work with social services, social workers work in many different settings, including schools, hospitals and clinics mental health practices, veteran centers, child welfare agencies, the criminal justice system, corporations, academia, research and policy, and state, federal and local government.
Similar to social work, public health practitioners work in various settings like the one’s I’ve mentioned. Also similar to social work, the general public is unclear about what public health is, what practitioners do, and how public health adds value. This disconnect limits communities’ understanding of what’s required to do social work and public health work effectively.
March is Social Work Month, and the 2023 theme is “Social Work Breaks Barriers“, underscoring the innovative ways social workers empower communities to overcome challenges so they can live to their fullest potential.
Part of that innovation is highlighting how social workers partner with other professions to advocate for laws and policies that positively impact at the individual, community, and systems level.
The social work profession originated in the early 20th century, partnering with doctors and public health practitioners to combat sexually transmitted infections and other infectious diseases and to improve maternal and child health.
As social work evolved, the profession experienced (and continues to experience) an identity crisis, shifting from being in communities to emphasizing therapy, case management, and professional licensure as ways to legitimize the profession in response to the comparison to psychology. I struggled with this as I studied for the LMSW exam, as mezzo-macro social work was my academic focus, and the majority of my exam questions were micro (clinical).
While legitimacy plagues social work, misinformation is a constant obstacle for public health, a battle we see play out in confronting information about COVID-19, abortion, HIV/AIDS, mental health, marijuana use, vaccines, homelessness, violence prevention and more.
Also, many social workers may be practicing public health without realizing, as social workers often lead prevention and health promotion efforts in field such as sexual and reproductive health/right/justice, HIV/AIDS, and more. In fact, my consulting projects are largely public health focused. Because of this, I’ve started embracing my role as a public health social worker.
What’s great about being a public health social worker is combining the cultural and communication skills of a social worker with the the rigorous scientific training of a public health professional. This advantage lets me approach my work from both an epidemiological and a social perspective. The ability to translate community-based work into organization and population-level policy recommendations helps build my epidemiological and biostatistics skills while also honing my understanding of health promotion and prevention.
I’m excited for the future of strengthening the social work and public health connection, contributing to the increasing dialogue on how these professions can be dedicated collaborators.
Raise Your Voice: How are social work and public health complimentary? Share in the comments section below.
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