Health Practice Tools

NASW is a proud sponsor of this report. Upstream social conditions help shape people’s health because they affect both the delivery and the outcomes of health care. It is therefore critical to take them into account to improve both primary prevention and the treatment of acute and chronic illness. The report highlights social work’s valuable contributions as specialists in providing social care and promoting health equity.

Climate change is affecting the way people live and contributing to physical and mental health conditions. Social workers can integrate knowledge about the environment into practice to help individuals understand and manage the health consequences of climate change.

One of the most frequently asked questions from NASW members is, “What is NASW doing to advocate for social workers?” In response to this popular question, the clinical team developed this advocacy booklet for members.

These tips describe ethical considerations for social workers and provide guidance and resources to assist with promoting ethical practice when working with HIV/AIDS-affected people and communities.

When adopted at the state level, physician aid in dying (PAD) is a process that allows physicians to write a prescription for a terminally ill person to self-administer medication to end his or her life. Now legal in several states, it’s important for social workers to understand the PAD process and its legal, clinical, and ethical practice implications.

The Guidelines for Perinatal Social Work Practice in Health Care Settings adapts the NASW Standards for Social Work Practice in Health Settings and applies it to the specialty of perinatal practice. The guidelines provide the reader with information about the types of issues that perinatal social workers address and the typical work settings for perinatal social workers. The guidelines are informed by perinatal experts and serve as a resource. The guidelines are meant to improve understanding of perinatal social work practice and provide useful information that can be applied to multiple perinatal settings, family structures, medical and social situations.