Congratulations December 2016 MSW MPH Graduates!

Sylvia Ayieko, MSW, MPH (December ’16). Ms. Ayieko graduated with an MSW with a Clinical Practice concentration and an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior. Additionally, Ms. Ayieko was an HRSA grant recipient and graduated with a certificate in Marriage and Family Therapy.

Ms. Ayieko completed an integrated field placement at Bethany Christian Services in Athens, GA. While at Bethany Christian Services she provided health services by training foster parents concerning trauma and worked with children with behavioral problems.

Ms. Ayieko looks forward to working with non-profit organizations in Eastern and Central Africa. 

View Ms. Ayieko’s LinkedIn Profile. 

Ashley Bowman, MSW, MPH (December ’16). Ms. Bowman graduated with an MSW with a Clinical Practice concentration and an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior. Additionally, Ms. Bowman graduated with a certificate in Disaster Management.

Ms. Bowman completed an integrated field placement at Stepping Stones to Recovery in Augusta, GA. 

Ms. Bowman currently works as a Behavioral Health Provider. She provides persons, families and vulnerable populations with the psychosocial support needed to cope with chronic, acute, or terminal illnesses and physical or developmental disabilities. Other responsibilities include patient education and counseling, advising caregivers and making necessary referrals for other social services.

View Ms. Bowman’s LinkedIn Profile.  

Lisa Foster, MSW, MPH, CHES (December ’16). Ms. Foster graduated with an MSW with a concentration in Community Empowerment and Program Development, an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior and a certificate in Nonprofit Management.

Ms. Foster completed an integrated field placement at the JonCaring Foundation in Lebanon, Ghana and an integrated field placement at AIDS Athens in Athens, GA. At both organizations she gained experience providing HIV testing and counseling, sexual health education, and supplemental case management.

Ms. Foster will be working as a Clinical Specialist at Triad Health Project in Greensboro, NC. She will be providing supportive services and coordination of care to people living with HIV/AIDS. 

Ms. Foster is a Certified Health Education Specialist through the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc. 

View Ms. Foster’s LinkedIn Profile. 

Rachel Harwell, MSW, MPH (December ’16). Ms. Harwell graduated with an MSW with a Clinical Practice concentration and an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior.

Ms. Harwell completed an integrated field placement at Emory Hospital in Atlanta, GA.

View Ms. Harwell’s LinkedIn Profile. 

Amber Hill, MSW, MPH (December ’16). Ms. Hill graduated with an MSW with a Clinical Practice concentration and an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior.

Ms. Hill completed an integrated field placement at Piedmont Athens Regional in Athens, GA. While at Piedmont, she utilized interpersonal skills, effective and appropriate communication, negotiation and conflict management skills, creative problem solving, and critical thinking in order to apply social work expertise to navigate the healthcare system and foster patient-centered communication with all stakeholders. Additionally, she learned to accurately assess a patient's social, physical, economic, and cultural environment in order to utilize available strengths and resources when creating a feasible and safe discharge plan. 

After graduation, Ms. Hill will join the Case Management Staff at Piedmont Athens Regional. Ms. Hill looks forward to developing her social work skills and supporting multi-disciplinary collaborations in this position, as Piedmont moves toward a more integrated, patient-centered care model.

View Ms. Hill’s LinkedIn Profile. 

Julia Packer, MSW, MPH, LMSW (December ’16). Ms. Packer graduated with an MSW with a Clinical Practice concentration and an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior. Ms. Packer was an HRSA grant recipient, allowing her to receive education specific to treating children, adolescents and transitional-age youth at risk of developing or who have developed a recognized behavioral health disorder.

Ms. Packer completed an integrated field placement at Hillside Inc. in Atlanta, GA where she worked in the Community Intervention Program. While at Hillside she worked with children and adolescents with severe emotional and behavioral health disorders who had been discharged from residential treatment, as well as youth in the foster care system. Ms. Packer researched satisfaction surveys, the effectiveness of community based mental health services and stability of treatment foster care homes. Additionally, Ms. Packer provided in home mental health services to promote family preservation and maintaining stability in the community after hospitalizations.

After graduation, Ms. Packer will work at Hillside Inc. as a Clinical Specialist. She will be providing intensive in-home treatment and support services to families in which there is a risk for out-of-home placement of children. Ms. Packer will be working primarily with the Intensive Family Intervention program and the Promoting Safe and Stable Families grant-funded program.

View Ms. Packer's LinkedIn Profile. 

Jessica Parker, MSW, MPH, LMSW, CHES (December ’16). Ms. Parker graduated with an MSW with a Clinical Practice concentration and an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior.

Ms. Parker completed an integrated field placement at the Samaritan Center for Counseling and Wellness, where she provided individual therapy, co-facilitated a DBT group, conducted intake assessments, collaboratively constructed treatment plans with clients, gathered epidemiological data and information regarding social determinants of health to inform the creation of a strategic plan, and applied for grant funding for the organization. Additionally, she developed a client satisfaction survey shaped directly by client’s feedback, designed promotional materials for fundraising events, and attended outreach events on behalf of the organization.

Ms. Parker looks forward to utilizing a transdisciplinary perspective to develop and implement creative ways to promote mental health and wellbeing at both the community and individual levels through preventative education, resource coordination, and therapeutic interventions.

Ms. Parker is a Licensed Master Social Worker.  Ms. Parker is also a Certified Health Education Specialist through the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc.

View Ms. Parker’s LinkedIn Profile. 

Carolyn Robinson, MSW, MPH (December ’16). Ms. Robinson graduated with an MSW with a Clinical Practice concentration and an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior.

Ms. Robinson completed an integrated field placement at Grady Behavioral Health in Atlanta, GA.

Ms. Robinson looks forward to working for the Georgia Department of Public Health as a Healthcare Program Consultant where she will evaluate measures for the state childhood obesity initiative. She will also evaluate work site wellness programs within the Georgia Department of Public Health.  

View Ms. Robinson’s LinkedIn Profile. 

Elaina Schreckenberger, MSW, MPH (December ’16). Ms. Schreckenberger graduated with an MSW with a Community Empowerment and Program Development concentration and an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior. Additionally, Ms. Schreckenberger graduated with a certificate in Global Health.

Ms. Schreckenberger completed an integrated field placement at Catholic Charities Refugee Resettlement Services in Atlanta, GA. While at Catholic Charities, Ms. Schreckenberger created a Mental Health Awareness Workshop for clients and developed instruments that can be used to evaluate their mental health in a way that can keep the conversation between client and case worker open.

Ms. Schreckenberger looks forward to utilizing both MSW and MPH in a way that she can work with clients and communities to ensure their needs are met to benefit their health and that they are able to reach self-sustainability and self-sufficiency. 

View Ms. Schreckenberger’s LinkedIn Profile. 

Tyler Smith, MSW, MPH (December ’16). Mr. Smith graduated with an MSW with a Clinical Practice concentration and an MPH with a concentration in Health Promotion and Behavior. Additionally, Mr. Smith was an HRSA grant recipient.

Mr. Smith completed a integrated field placements at SummitRidge Hospital in Lawrenceville, GA and at Advantage Behavioral Health in Athens, GA.

View Mr. Smith’s LinkedIn Profile. 

Congratulations Devan Gardner on CHES Certification!

Devan Gardner, MPH-Health Promotion and Behavior/MSW-Clinical student recently passed the CHES certification exam and is now a recognized Certified Health Education Specialist. The national, competency-based exam is a great tool to build up your resume and show future employers you meet standards in knowledge and application of public health promotion and education key concepts. For more information about taking the CHES/MCHES exam, please visit: http://www.nchec.org/ches

Alumni Update: Mumbi Mwaura, LMSW, MPH (Dec '14) new UGA School of Social Work graduate recruitment and continuing education coordinator

Mumbi Mwaura, LMSW, MPH, has accepted a new position as graduate recruitment and continuing education coordinator at the School of Social Work at The University of Georgia, beginning January 2017. Prior to this appointment, Mumbi was a Graduate Recruiter at The University of Georgia Graduate School. 

Mumbi notes, "My degrees will help me understand the needs of current practitioners in terms of continuing education as well as recognizing the value of the interdisciplinary approaches to addressing social problems. I look forward to helping recruit future students in the School who will be the forces of change in our communities." 

Congratulations Mumbi, we look forward to working with you!

Ten MSW MPH students presented at MPH Poster Day

The MSW MPH program was well-represented at MPH Poster Day on December 6, 2016. Ten MSW MPH students presented their capstone work. Pictured from left to right are Tyler Smith, Elaina Schreckenberger, Sylvia Ayieko, Rachel Harwell, Amber Hill, Ashley Bowman, Carolyn Robinson, Jessica Parker, Julia Packer, and Lisa Foster. Congratulations!

Alumna Joelle Pettus published in Journal of Women's Health

Congratulations to UGA MSW MPH alumna, Joelle Pettus (May '15), for being published in the Journal of Women's Health! Read the article.

Lisa Foster, MSW MPH student, highlighted as one of UGA's Amazing Students

Lisa Foster is an MSW MPH student planning to graduate in December 2016. She was highlighted as one of UGA's amazing students. Read the story.

Guest Post by Brandon Baird (Dec '17)

Brandon Baird (Dec '17)

Society likes to compile and categorize occupations to fit a mold. It’s usually a straight path where tasks and activities are clear. Becoming a dual-degree professional is a challenging journey that can lead you down multiple roads because the relative newness of dual-degree programs still carries a uniqueness into the workforce. The combination of the master of public health (MPH) and master of social work (MSW) has grown to become a solid partnership. Public health inevitably creeps into social work as if it were the friend that always was welcome in your home; social work can also lend a hand to public health, even if the reciprocity is not always apparent. Dr. Joseph Telfair, a dual-degree wizard as he has been a piece in starting several MSW/MPH programs around the country, explained that every challenge has multiple factors at play, stressing the importance of understanding the levels of the ecological model from the individual to the environment.

A public health social worker (PHSW) is a professional that can understand and help meet the needs of the individual to support the population’s well-being. By using interpersonal techniques of social work in the framework of public health knowledge, a PHSW can read between the lines to have a greater understanding of an individual’s needs and how to reach those needs. Although this may seem complicated, a clearer picture is painted when you identify the common values between the two disciplines: elimination of health disparities and promotion of social, economic, and environmental justice (Sable et al., 2012). These shared values and ethics between the disciplines show how to accomplish goals from both sides that seem one-sided.

My realization of the integrative nature came when I shadowed a social worker at a low-income health clinic in Atlanta. My usual tasks included calling patients in order to help them schedule appointments from regular check-ups to mammograms to a number of other health services. The people I came in contact with usually did not know how to schedule their own specialty appointments or navigate the Medicare or Medicaid system that was more of a burden on their shoulders than a boost under their feet. I felt good about myself, but I also came to realize the nature of the hierarchy of needs. Most people I helped had some form of income and a house to call home. However, I also helped a mother who did not have a place to stay other than her daughter’s dorm room. This could have built into a bigger situation, but I was able to use my resources with United Way to find some temporary housing for the mother to stay. The spectrum of situations that can arise in the setting I was in was long spanning, and none of these situations could be labeled as simply public health or social work.

Although research is limited, the identity of public health social workers in the workforce is beginning to be evaluated. When comparing dual-degree graduates to MSW-only graduates, Ruth et al. (2006) found that both groups had high employment and career satisfaction. However, the flexibility of the kind of job was apparent as 80% of MSW-only graduates held strictly social work occupations compared to just one-third of dual-degree graduates. A more recent study focused on the kind of education PHSWs would benefit from by analyzing what skills the dual-degree graduates used most. Sixty-three percent of the graduates labeled themselves as PHSW and used both skill sets while only half said they had the ideal integrative job (Ruth et al., 2015). This speaks to the workforce not exactly being prepared for dual-degree professionals, but dual-degree professionals still finding ways to utilize the skill sets that were learned with both degrees.

Even with the skills from both areas being used, Dr. Betty Ruth of Boston University believes that dual-degree professionals have a chance to better integrate more disciplines. She wrote “MSW/MPH programs are not just educational enhancement; they have the potential to become the profession’s building blocks for transdisciplinary and interdisciplinary collaboration” (2015, p. 193).

Similar to interdisciplinary collaboration, transdisciplinary collaboration integrates components such as perspectives, concepts, and theories while also using these components to be creative by generating strategies and techniques to address, and hopefully solve, problems (Stokols, et al., 2013). This kind of collaboration goes through a fluidly sequential set of four phases: development, conceptualization, implementation, and translation. Although collaborative groups would like to flow through these phases in order, there are times where you have to take a step back and make some corrections to your original strategies.

The role of the PHSW in this kind of context is to be able to bring a greater holistic view of the situation at hand. First, the PHSW should go through a collection of steps in order to identify the problem. The three pieces that go into fully understanding the problem is identifying the locus of the problem, identifying key modifiable contributing risk factors, and identifying key issues related to adoption, which leads to an effective solution (Johnson-Reid, et al., 2013). These three pieces are important because it will help the PHSW identify what community partnerships need to be mobilized in order to help advocate for policy changes, provide and increase access to services, educate the community, and evaluate the efficacy of the intervention or program as a whole (Hall & Rounds, 2013).

Consider you are trying to reduce the rate of violence among adolescents. Possible collaborators may include medical personnel, law enforcement, social services, teachers, parents, and coaches. With so many perspectives and ideals that can present themselves in this hodgepodge, leadership is crucial for reaching the intended goal as the separate entities that make up the group have their own agenda and limited power in which to make change. However, dynamic delegation can bring out the best of the group by having each entity do what they can do best in order for the group to strive at full capacity (Dow, et al., 2013). Sometimes polarizing figures will be at the same table with stakeholders that will disagree about plans of action the majority of the time. No one likes to have their toes stepped on, especially when people feel like their way will make a lasting impact. The key is to avoid the crunch and hopefully just give the toes a tap. With leadership, the PHSW can help find the middle ground because understanding how to work through disagreements is critical for the growth and success of the collaboration group.

I am not sure where my journey will take me, but I do know my dual-degree education will mold me into a versatile professional. Of course my attractiveness in the workforce will be boosted, which does matter. By the same token, the multiple perspectives I bring to the table as well as understanding the perspectives of other’s that are at the table will increase the probability for effective and meaningful change. That is what matters most about being a public health social worker.

-Brandon Baird, MSW MPH Student (December 2017)

Visit Brandon's LinkedIn profile.

References

Dow, A. W., DiazGranados, D., Mazmanian, P. E., & Retchin, S. M. (2013). Applying organizational science to healthcare:  Framework for collaborative practice. Academic Medicine, 88(7), 952-957.

Hall, W. J. & Rounds, K. (2013). Adolescent health. In R. H. Keefe & E. T. Jurkowski (Eds), Handbook for public health social work (pp. 58-80). New York, NY: Springer.

Johnson-Reid, M., Drake, B., Weaver, N., & Constantino, J. (2013). Transdisciplinary approaches to violence and injury prevention and treatment among children and youth (Chapter 10). In D. Haire-Joshu & T.D. McBride (Eds), Transdisciplinary public health:  Research, education, & practice (pp. 217-247). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Ruth, B. J., Marshall, J. W., Velasquez, E. E. M., & Bachman, S. S. (2015). Teaching note: Educating public health social work professionals: Results from an MSW/MPH outcomes study. Journal of Social Work Education, 51, 186-194. 

Ruth, B. J., Wyatt, J., Chiasson, E., Geron, S. M., & Bachman, S. (2006). Teaching notes: Social work and public health: Comparing graduates from a dual degree program. Journal of Social Work Education, 42(2), 429-439. 

Sable, M. R., Schild, D. R., & Hipp, J. A. (2012). Public health and social work. In S. Gehlert & T. Browne (Eds.), Handbook of health social work, (pp. 64-99). Hoboken, NJ: WILEY.

Stokols, D., Hall, K. L., & Vogel, A. L. (2013). Transdisciplinary public health: Definition, core characteristics, and strategies for success (Chapter 1). In D. Haire-Joshu & T.D. McBride (Eds), Transdisciplinary public health:  Research, education, & practice (pp. 3-30). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.