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Suggestions for Leveraging Social Work Month
Social Work Month is an excellent opportunity to showcase social workers to key audiences – consumers, media and even other social workers. These efforts bring attention to your chapter or organization, while focusing on the extraordinary efforts of social workers. From small gatherings to large events, the media likes to hear about people in the community. Look for information in the Social Work Month section of the NASW Web site and on the National Social Work Public Education Campaign site.
Here are some suggestions of ways to leverage Social Work Month:
- Town Hall Meeting – Hold a Town Hall Meeting to engage lawmakers, state, city or county officials in a dialogue about the efforts to address the issue of health care in your area. Discuss social work’s vital role in ensuring that clients receive quality care.
- Press Conference – Conduct a Press Conference at which the mayor and/or governor issues a proclamation designating March as National Professional Social Work Month. Highlight local social workers in your area who are making a difference, as well as initiatives taken on by your organization or chapter this year to promote social work and the issue of health.
- Speaking Opportunities – Arrange for speaking opportunities for the executive director or president of your organization or chapter to highlight the important role of social work in health care.
- Panel Discussion – Hold a conference or panel discussion about the role of social work in health care.
- Editorial Board – Set up a meeting with your local paper editorial board to discuss their coverage of the topic of ensuring quality health care. You can provide the social work thoughts to the conversation to ensure that they know all the efforts that social workers are making.
- Information Dissemination – At every meeting, panel, or conference you attend, make sure that you have information available about Social Work Month and the National Public Education Campaign for those in attendance.
- E-newsletter – Create an e-newsletter that captures all that your chapter or organization is doing surrounding Social Work Month. Rotate different areas of practice each time you send it out so that it appeals to a wide range of audiences. Start with the health practice area in March to highlight the theme of Social Work Month 2007.
- CE Workshop – Offer a workshop for CE credits on the topic of health to social workers in your area.
- Exhibit – Set up an exhibition booth at a local hospital, school or community center to disseminate information about social work.
- Banners – Display banners in highly visible areas promoting March as National Professional Social Work Month.
- Web site – Makes sure that your chapter or organization’s Web site has the most up-to-date information about the celebration of Social Work Month 2007 and specific information on the topic of health.
- Consumer Site – Link from your Web site to the Social Work Consumer Site – www.HelpStartsHere.org.
- Advertise – Advertise in local newspapers and magazines using the National Social Work Public Education Campaign materials. From small and large ads to billboards and banners for Web sites, NASW has advertising that will fit your need. Additionally, NASW has an engaging advertisement that focuses on the issue of health. This advertisement highlights the important work of Alycia Hughes, LMSW, a social worker and M.D. Anderson Cancer Center who helped Ivory Pete through her second bout with cancer. Please follow this link to see this ad. Contact media@naswdc.org for more information on running this or any other ad.
These are just a selection of suggestions that chapters and organizations can use to promote the profession during Social Work Month 2007 and throughout the year.
For more information about Social Work Month 2007, please contact NASW Communications at media@naswdc.org.
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