Health Practice Tools

NASW is a Champion for Coverage and recognizes the importance of social workers who help individuals and families connect to health insurance coverage and health care services. Open Enrollment for the health insurance marketplace is November 1, 2022 to January 15, 2023. 

It is important for social workers to develop a deep understanding about the ways in which the environment and individual health outcomes are interconnected. This Practice Perspectives describes the connection between human health and features of the environment including weather, air, and food. It highlights efforts within the social work profession to bring environmental health issues to the forefront and to advance practices and policies that are beneficial to people, communities, and the natural environment.

Social workers play integral roles in helping clients understand, access, and navigate Social Security benefits. This Practice Alert provides updates on field office reopenings and other recent developments within the Social Security Administration. It concludes with NASW advocacy related to Social Security.

The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) is establishing a task force that will revise the NASW Standards for Social Work Practice in Palliative and End of Life Care. NASW is seeking individuals with substantive professional experience focused on palliative care, hospice, end-of-life planning and care, grief and bereavement and other relevant areas to join the task force. 

NASW is proud to be a 2021 partner of "I COVID Quit," a campaign created by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Smoking Cessation Leadership Center. NASW is also a member of the National Partnership on Behavioral Health and Tobacco Use, a coalition of about 30 organizations committed to eliminating smoking among people with mental health and substance use disorders.

This year the Open Enrollment Period on HealthCare.gov has been extended and runs from November 1, 2021, to January 15, 2022. For coverage to begin on January 1, 2022, enrollment must be completed by December 15, 2021. Enrollment after December 15 will provide coverage beginning on February 1, 2022.