Social Workers Solving Problems in Health Disparities in Communities Everywhere

NASW Recognizes National Public Health Week, April 5-11, 2004

WASHINGTON — The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) and social workers in communities across the country are focused on finding solutions to health disparities — differences in health care and access to care based on gender, race and ethnicity, education level, income level, disability, geographic location, or sexual orientation.

Currently, the nation's uninsured population is over 43 million and growing each day. Not only is there a lack of insurance, but in rural areas, there is also a lack of qualified providers. Social workers are the largest providers of mental health services, especially in rural areas, however resources and culturally competent providers are hard to find in some rural areas.

Other examples variables affecting health disparities are:

• Unequal treatment for minorities — even when racial and ethnic minorities are insured at levels comparable to whites, they tend to receive a lower quality of health care for the same health conditions;
• Lack of diversity among health care providers;
• Low health literacy — people may have problems communicating with their physician, reading instructions and labels on medicines, completing medical insurance forms and understanding many other aspects of health care;
• Exposure to environmental risks — people in low-income areas often have less healthy surroundings than people in other communities;
• Poverty and cancer — cancer survival rate is 10 to 15 percent lower for poor individuals than other Americans.

NASW urges social workers to be aware and have knowledge about health disparities and the negative impact barriers to quality care can have on people and communities.

Social workers can help facilitate communication, particularly between patients and health care providers. Using NASW's Standards for Cultural Competence in Social Work Practice, social workers can learn how to address many of the identified barriers and problems that significantly contribute to health disparities.

For more information regarding health disparities and NASW, please visit www.socialworkers.org

The National Association of Social Workers Insurance Trust is an entity created in 1967 by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) for the purpose of designing, securing and overseeing high quality, competitive insurance programs that are offered to the NASW membership.  Through the Trust’s insurance programs, the Trustees strive to creatively meet the changing and diverse insurance needs of social workers, thereby enhancing the value of NASW membership as well. The Trustees, who are five social workers, are fiduciaries and are ever mindful of their commitment to maintaining the financial stability and fiscal integrity of the NASW Insurance Trust.