Consumer Education

In 2005 NASW began coordinating a national public education campaign called Social Workers: Help Starts Here.  The cornerstone of this campaign is a now 1,000-page consumer website called HelpStartsHere.org that helps the public understand the range of psychosocial issues that affect their daily lives and communities.

Each HelpStartsHere.org article (and its social worker contributor) not only serves as an online searchable resource for those looking for information on the Web, but also as an excellent media “pitch” idea for radio and television news programs, magazine features, newspaper articles, and scores of special interest Web sites. Since 2008, literally hundreds of stories have appeared in local and national news media, featuring social workers as experts, thanks to strategic promotion of the HelpStartsHere.org site.

In addition to the website, the Help Starts Here Campaign has placed engaging print advertisements in national magazines, such as O Magazine, Ladies Home Journal, MORE Magazine, Military Times, AARP, Ms. Magazine, and Television Week.  NASW also produced a video about the profession that has been seen by millions on YouTube and their local PBS stations. NASW chapters have also used the Help Starts Here materials to coordinate effective local campaigns that include billboards, print ads, radio PSAs, news outreach and events to position social workers as essentials resource in every community.   

A key outreach focus over the years has been reaching Sandwich Generation Women (those between 35 and 55) who are caring for their school-age children, as well as for elderly parents and relatives.  This segment of the U.S. population makes the majority of health care and social support decisions for their families.  They are also most likely to seek assistance from social workers to manage competing demands on their time, and are often key supporters of social and education services in their communities. To reach this group, NASW released a two-part Sandwich Generation Women caregiver stress survey to the national media in 2006 and 2008, and secured exclusive media coverage in USA Today and Good Morning America as a result. 

These and other strategies help make the frequently complex work of social workers more accessible and understandable to the general public. 

Contact for HelpStartsHere.org and Consumer Media Outreach:
Theresa Spinner at tspinner@naswdc.org or 202.408.8600 x468