Notes from the Field: Health
Health and HIV Highlights
Evelyn Tomaszewski, MSW
Senior Policy Associate, Health & HIV
May 2004
Conferences and Presentations
NASW recognizes the wide range of issues that affect women and girls, and is committed to advancing the health and mental health well-being of women and their families, both in the United States and globally.
Recently, NASW participated on the Planning Committee for the Second World Congress on Women's Mental Health, held in Washington , D.C. in March 2004. At the opening ceremony, NASW joined officials from diverse national and international groups — such as the World Bank and the World Health Organization, as well as federal agencies and sister mental health organizations — to formally welcome social workers and allied health professionals from 32 countries. Additionally, NASW organized two symposia: “Global Issues, Ethical Dilemmas, and Standards of Practice” and “Women's Health and Mental Health: The Role of Poverty.”
- NASW's HIV/AIDS Training and Education Collaborative has been invited to organize a presentation for the annual meeting of the Mental Health HIV Services Collaborative (MHHSC) Program, a federally funded program charged with providing HIV Mental Health training, education, and technical assistance to HIV/AIDS community based organizations working in communities largely populated by ethnic and racial minorities.
- NASW Senior Policy Associate and HIV/AIDS Spectrum Project Director Evelyn Tomaszewski, presented a pre-conference seminar, “Substance Use, HIV/AIDS, and Mental Health: Integrating Services,” at the National AIDS Update Conference; she also organized and presented a plenary session entitled, “Mental Health and Substance Abuse Research and Practice: Current Trends and New Directions.”
Partnerships
- NASW continues to provide a voice for professional social workers working in diverse health care settings by actively participating on the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations' (JCAHO) Professional and Technical Advisory committees. NASW staff members and volunteer leaders participated in the following PTAC Sessions: Behavioral Health Care; and Long Term Care/Assisted Living. The winter meeting addressed numerous issues affecting social workers and their clients/patients, including staff-to-client/patient ratios; patient safety goals; 2005 infection control standards; and defining measurements or standards for culturally and linguistically appropriate health care services.
Resource