Why the Social Work and Public Health Professions Belong Side-by-Side - Guest Post by Ansley Kasha (May '21)

Ansley Kasha MSW-MPH
May '21

My decision to pursue a Social Work Master's degree and a Public Health Master's degree at the same time was not thought out. In all honesty, it was impulsive. I had already been accepted into the University of Georgia’s Advanced Standing track for my Master of Social Work degree, and I was enthusiastically ready to complete my education and finally see the letters “MSW” at the end of my email signature. I thought this would be enough to satisfy my internal desire to professionally help others and leave a meaningful mark on the world, but I was wrong. I realized in my first semester of grad school that I still felt a sense of unfulfillment, but I was unsure of the origin of this unfulfillment. This is when I was first introduced to the idea of pursuing an additional degree in the field of public health by Dr. Rebecca Wells, and it was the best impulsive decision I have made for myself to date.  

As I continue to pursue my two degrees, I increasingly self-identify as a public health social worker. This personal identification is rooted in an intense passion for health promotion in the interest of the public and the responsibility and privilege to uphold the ethical principles and values of the social work profession. A dual professional like myself has the unique opportunity to make the most informed decisions for a desired population by pulling expertise and knowledge from complementary professions. Social work and public health are complementary because their domains of service are oftentimes separate, but they share the same overarching goal of improving the well-being of others.  

Social work as a whole is overwhelmingly micro in its approach, focusing on individuals and families. Professional social workers “protect society’s most vulnerable individuals” by “connecting their clients with important resources” (2U Inc., 2021) Public health, however, is macro in its approach, focusing on the larger communities and populations. “Public health promotes and protects the health of people and the communities where they live, learn, work, and play” (American Public Health Association [APHA], n.d.). The intersectionally of these professions lies within the unwavering dedication to improving the lives of others.  

My personal definition of a public health social worker is someone who is interested in positively impacting large populations on a macro scale while actively implementing professional social work ethics and values. The National Association of Social Workers (NASW) outlines six professional values and ethical principles in the Code of Ethics that align with the profession. The NASW Code of Ethics places emphasis on the following values: Service, Social Justice, Dignity and Worth of the Person, Importance of Human Relationships, Integrity, and Competence (National Association of Social Workers [NASW], 2008). I believe the best way I can do my dual degree justice is to incorporate my social work ethics and values into every aspect of the work I do in the public health field. Social work ethics are sound and reliable. It is my personal and professional opinion that every profession should implement a moral code of conduct that rivals that of social work. The recognition of the shared human experience is invaluable to the public health social worker because it provides a grounded framework for providing essential services and exploring interprofessional collaboration.  

I am truly honored to be privileged enough to pursue a dual Master's program in the professions of social work and public health. By the end of the Spring 2020 semester, I will have exactly one more year until I graduate and get a “big girl” job. I do not know where my two degrees will lead me, but I am confident in my ability to represent both professions with grace and humility. My impulse decision to follow my intuition when I felt unfulfilled only pursuing my Master of Social Work degree is something I am proud of. I hope that this same intuition follows me into my professional career as I aim to be the best public health social worker that the University of Georgia has ever seen!  

 

- Ansley Kasha, MSW/MPH graduate, May 2021. Ansley is currently working at the UGA College of Public Health as part of the Traffic Safety Research and Evaluation Group (TSREG) and also works on the Georgia COVID Perinatal Experiences (COPE) study through Emory University's Rollins School of Public Health

View Ansley's LinkedIn Profile here

 

References 

American Public Health Association [APHA]. (n.d.) What is public health? Retrieved from https://www.apha.org/what-is-public-health
U2 Inc. (2021, June 11). Macro, Mezzo and Micro Social Work. Social Work License Map. Retrieved October 22, 2021, from https://socialworklicensemap.com/become-a-social-worker/macro-mezzo-and-micro-social-work/.
National Association of Social Workers [NASW] (2008). NASW Code of Ethics (Guide to the
Everyday Professional Conduct of Social Workers). Washington, DC: NASW.  

What it means to be a Dual Professional (or to work Interprofessionally) - Guest Blog Post Brooke Felt (Dec 20')

Brooke Felt MSW-MPH Dec 20'

Like most of us entering grad school, I started out with an idea of who I wanted to be and had dreams of what I wanted to accomplish in life. As I began my journey as a social work student, I quickly realized there was something missing from what I had envisioned. Shortly after beginning my first semester, I realized that the missing piece of my puzzle was public health. 

When I think of being a dual professional, I tend to think of it in a dialectical sense, or in the way of integrating opposites together. Social work and public health are two great examples of professions that differ in many ways but can also be incredibly complementary. As a student, and I imagine as a professional, navigating the two mindsets can be challenging at times. It is a process of learning to be “both, and.” In other words, embodying both disciplines means learning how to perform both roles individually and together.  

Social work and public health are both helping professions that aim to increase the well-being of people from the individual- to the population-level (i.e. micro, mezzo, macro). Common ground that both disciplines share is “addressing social determinants of health, promoting population health, and advancing social justice” (Bachman, 2017).  So how do these relate to working interprofessionally

Working with people brings about multi-faceted challenges because people are complex in nature. The common denominator of working with people is that there are determinants that affect both the social and health aspects of how we all as humans experience life.  Social determinants of health include genetics, physical environment, social environment, behavior, and access to health services.  Consequently, health disparities and inequalities stem from these influencers and play a large role in overall individual and population health. 

A definition by Braveman (2006) that encompasses both is, “A health disparity/inequality is a particular type of difference in health or in the most important influences on health that could potentially be shaped by policies; it is a difference in which disadvantaged social groups (such as the poor, racial/ethnic minorities, women, or other groups that have persistently experienced social disadvantage or discrimination) systematically experience worse health or greater health risks than more advantaged groups” (p. 180).  To adequately advocate with and lessen the burden on marginalized and oppressed populations, it is important to approach these structural and systemic problems from an interprofessional point of view.  For this reason, social justice is a driving component in this dual profession.

The main difference between the two is that public health aims at promoting health and disease prevention for the wider population, and social work typically intervenes at the individual, family, and community level through behavioral interventions (Ruth, Sisco, & Marshall, 2008).  Public health tends to adopt a more technical, methodical lens by using data, research, and analyses to implement programs, policies, and interventions that benefit the larger society (i.e. fluoride in drinking water, seat belts, vaccines). Whereas social work adopts a lens of empathy and advocacy, using a more person-centered and strengths-based approach that utilizes social justice and empowerment to drive and make sustainable changes at the micro- to macro-level (i.e. clinical mental health practice, community organizing, case management, healthcare). Essentially the end goal of both professions is similar; it is how they get there that differs the most.  However, when placed together, combining public health prevention methods with social work’s emphasis on problem-solving and a person-in-environment framework makes for a dynamic duo (Ruth, Sisco, & Marshall, 2008).  This dynamic duo of both professions models collaborative leadership, which is a process of sharing the leadership role and working with a team of professionals to find a solution to a problem (Rabinowitz, 2014). I always think of the saying “two heads are better than one.” While I know that to be true, it has taken on a whole new meaning when I think of how adopting a public health and social work skillset together can go farther and be more impactful than just one on its own. Intertwining the two is a skill that takes time to develop, but the impact is great.  

Overall, to be a dual degree professional means to constantly wear two different hats. Learning how to navigate and which one to lead with can be difficult, but it is important to remember the role being played and what would best serve that situation. It means being versatile and adaptable to the ever-changing scenarios that are presented on a daily basis. I am looking forward to all the opportunities being a dual professional with an MSW/MPH will bring. 

-Ashley Brooke Felt graduated from the MSW/MPH program in December of 2020. 

Brooke is currently working as a Healthcare Coalition Facilitator for the Northwest Georgia Department of Public Health and as a part-time Mental Health Therapist with Bethel Haven. View Brooke's Linkedin here. 

References

• Bachman, S. S. (2017). Social Work and Public Health: Charting the Course for Innovation.
• Braveman, P. (2006). Health disparities and health equity: Concepts and measurement. Annu. Rev. Public Health, 27, 167-194. doi:10.1146/annurev.publhealth.27.021405.102103
• Rabinowitz, P. (2014). Collaborative leadership, Chapter 13: Orienting ideas in leadership. In the Community Tool Box.  Retrieved from: ctb.ku.edu/en/table-of-contents/leadership/leadership-ideas/collaborative-leadership/main
• Ruth, B. J., Sisco, S., & Marshall, J. W. (2008). Public health social work. Encyclopedia of social work, 3, 476-483.

Being a Dual Professional - Guest Blog Post Julianne Blackburn - (Dec 20')

Juliann Blackburn LMSW, MPH
 (Dec '20)

Being a dual professional means being able to look at problems from multiple lenses. It means incorporating knowledge and skills from multiple disciplines to develop innovative programs that address a need at multiple levels. Before coming into this program, my roles in many of my jobs were limited to addressing a problem from only one viewpoint. The agencies I worked for had limited types of assistance they could provide, and they evaluated outcomes based on the symptoms of the specific problems they were able to address. While these services benefitted clients, I often found myself frustrated with the small amount of progress we were able to make. I felt like we were simply putting a band-aid on a larger problem and were not using resources in a way that maximized benefit to the community. Often, many of the challenges clients faced could have been prevented if programs and policies had been implemented to address the issue. There were many times when the root cause of a client's problem was beyond the scope of services that agencies could provide. Yes, some of their immediate needs were met, but these services were not sustainable long term. The clients were entering a cycle of dependency, and agencies were not able to provide services in a way that helped to empower their clients. Even with an awareness of this challenge, there was little that could be done in many positions to change it. So often the solutions that we were working towards failed to consider a holistic perspective of the issue. As dual degree professionals, we are trained in both the prevention and treatment of problems at multiple levels. The dual degree professional can look at problems and consider ideas and solutions that combine core tenants of both fields. They can understand how to effectively plan, implement, and evaluate prevention interventions. At the same time, they understand the person-in-environment perspective of causes of problems and effective treatment options at both the micro and macro levels.

Both social work and public health are grounded in the idea that inequalities in society are the result of systematic disadvantages (Jackson, 2015). They work to promote social justice by considering the social determinants of health at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, organizational, community, and policy levels (Bachman, 2017). These professionals understand that many of the problems that people face are not the fault of the individual but are instead a result of broken systems and structures that prevent individuals from having access to the resources and services needed to reduce these disparities. These are problems that have been around for decades and require the integration of ideas from different disciplines to tackle effectively. The strengths of both social workers and public health practitioners are crucial to the creation and implementation of innovative programs to meet the diverse needs of our communities. Public Health practitioners understand the process for analyzing the needs of a population and using evidence-based practices to tailor an intervention to a specific population. Likewise, social workers can use a strengths-based approach to capitalize on the existing resources in individuals and communities. They are then able to mobilize those resources to address the short, medium, and long-term needs of the community. Competencies of these professions, specifically the emphasis on both problem solving and prevention, used in a transdisciplinary environment can lead to some of the most effective and innovative solutions to the most significant challenges in both social work and public health. The ability to address these issues from multiple perspectives in a way that incorporates ideas from both disciplines into one idea is a growing need that is vital in our fight to achieve social justice and reduce health disparities in our society.

- Julianne Blackburn graduated from the MSW/MPH program in December 2020. Julianne is currently working at Mercy Health Center. 

View Julianne's LinkedIn Profile. 


References

• Bachman, S.S. (2017). Social Work and Public Health: Charting the Course for Innovation. American Journal of Public Health, 107 (S3), S220.
• Jackson, K. (2015). Public Health Social Work: Now more than ever. Social Work Today, 15 (6), 12.

 

Guest Post by Keilondria Robertson - (Dec 20')

I entered the College of Public Health at the University of Georgia in 2018. Since then, I have spent the last two years answering questions like:

• “What is that?”
• “What can you do with that degree?”
• “Will you be working at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)?”

Once I joined the School of Social Work in 2019, the questions shifted from general curiosity about my field to worry and concern. Now, the questions sounded more like:

• “You want to take people’s children?”
• “Why Social Work?”
• “They do not make a lot of money, do they?”

At first, I was just as lost as the individuals asking the questions. 

What could I do with a degree in public health and social work?

Public Health is associated with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that conducts top-secret, scientific research related to health; Social Work is associated with the Department of Family and Children's Services (DFCS) that is infamous for being a ‘thief in the night.’ I knew that there had to be more to the fields I had chosen than those two things. So, the search began. I dug into learning more about Public Health and Social Work to be able to prepare responses to the frequently asked questions.

Keilondria Robertson
MSW/MPH Dec. '20

The first step was looking into the core values of the two disciplines. The mission of Social Work is rooted in “service, social justice, dignity and worth of the person, importance of human relationships, integrity, and competence” (National Association of Social Workers, 2017). Within Public Health, "professionalism and trust; health and safety; health justice and equity; interdependence and solidarity; human rights and civil liberties; and inclusivity and engagement” are key elements of the values (American Public Health Association, 2019). My interpretation of the disciplines’ ethics and core values are building trust, offering genuine assistance, allowing room for self-determination, and addressing health inequalities. These principles align with my professional values. 

[I would say that these values align with my ‘personal values,’ but an article by Derek Thompson taught me to separate my personal and professional life. That is a post for another day and time.]

The second step in my journey was weighing the benefits and challenges of a dual degree professional. The benefits are obvious: more money, more opportunities for employment, and the ability/skills to analyze a single issue from multiple angles. The challenges of a dual-degree holder are fueled by other people’s perceptions of a dual-degree holder. Others perceive dual-degree professionals as individuals with limited knowledge and opposing views based upon the two complex fields. How can I care about the public (health) and also the well-being of an individual (social work) at the same time? That sounds difficult, right? Not when you have been trained at a prestigious university, like the University of Georgia, though!. I only see the benefits when I think about my life as a dual-degree professional. I think of combining all of my professional aspirations into one career. Public Health is embedded in Social Work, and Social Work is embedded in Public Health.

Finally, the third step was discovering ways to utilize both degrees. I wanted to establish a professional identity that speaks to the skills I have gained from both disciplines. I quickly learned that ‘a’ professional identity is not enough. I need to create multiple professional identities that could be adopted in any job setting. That is how I ‘become’ the professional I want to be (Scanlon, 2011). Utilization of my dual degree depends on the type of job I obtain and the openness of the employers. The designated position will determine which professional identity I tap into more. I discovered that I can be whoever I need to be in either field. 

Now that I have completed my journey, I have new responses to the frequently asked questions.

“What is a dual degree?”  A dual degree professional is someone with two degrees. When making decisions, the professional considers ethics, frameworks, approaches, and perspectives from both disciplines.

“What can you do with a dual degree?” I can obtain a government job on the local, state, or federal level or be a part of a private organization. Or I can work as a social worker doing clinical work or manage a non-profit organization. Or I can work as a public health professional doing research or work in the community as a health educator. Or I can utilize both degrees in settings that employ public health social workers or customize a new position that combines both of my skill sets. 

• “Why Social Work and Public Health?”  The two fields allow me to help others (on a micro and macro level) by connecting them to resources and sharing knowledge. I want to work with vulnerable populations to reach optimal health, equality, and equity.
• “People in those fields don’t make a lot of money, do they?” Health is wealth. Helping others is good for your personal health and the general public in the long run. Therefore, I will be wealthy in that sense. 

That is what being a dual-degree professional means to me!

-Keilondria Robertson graduated from the MSW/MPH program in December of 2020. Keilondria is currently working as an ORISE Fellow at the CDC. View Keilondria's Linkedin profile. 

References 

• American Public Health Association. (2019) Public health code of ethics. Retrieved from: https://www.apha.org/apha-communities/member-sections/ethics  
• National Association of Social Workers. (2017). Code of ethics of the National Association of Social Workers. Retrieved from: http://www.socialworkers.org/pubs/code/ 
• Scanlon, L. (2011). ‘Becoming’ a professional. In Becoming a professional: An interdisciplinary analysis of professional learning (pp. 13-32). New York, NY: Springer.
• Thompson, D. (2019). Workism is making Americans miserable. The Atlantic, 24.

 

Guest Blog Post by Caitlin Moore - (Dec 20')

"(I am large, I contain multitudes.)"– Walt Whitman, Song of Myself  

 

This line has become the mantra I often find floating into my head when I am thinking about being a dual Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health student. It reminds me that I am complex and multidimensional. Then it takes me out of myself to realize that everyone contains multitudes. More than that, when you combine the multitudes within me, everyone, and the world, it grows infinite. And I feel like that is what social work public health is - it is taking into account all the multitudes of what this life means. We are all complex beings and deserve to be seen accordingly.   

Social work and public health aim to grapple with some of life’s most difficult struggles. They look at the world through the lens of the individual, community, and society. 

Caitlin Moore, MSW/MPH (Dec '20)

Social work and public health work with all walks of life from every culture, age, race, religion, sexuality, socioeconomic status, gender, ability status, and so on. When overly simplified, both are grounded in the common goal of making this life as enjoyable as possible where each person on this earth can thrive. However, rooted in more of the technical jargon, Dr. Bachman (2017) said it best - that the shared common goals are “addressing social determinants of health, promoting population health, and advancing social justice”. In progressing these common goals, the social work perspective lays the foundation using the socioecological approach while the public health perspective examines the social determinants of health to assess well-being, health, and equity. Both lenses are needed to get a well-rounded understanding and, ultimately, intervention or policy. One thing I have found with social work and public health professionals is we do not look away. We sit with the things that are hard and uncomfortable with the goal of figuring out how to make it better.  

 

To me, being a social work and public health student makes me feel empowered. I feel like I can do anything! But truly, I feel I have the skills to engage delicately with an individual in crisis, to research the empirical evidence of an intervention, and to advocate effectively for human rights, health equity, and social justice. 

 

Early on in my dual degree career I heard the phrase ‘jack of all trades, but master of none’, and I became weary that would be my fate. However, after my first year as a dual degree student, I see that as a false dichotomy. Being a student of two professions allows me to walk into most environments with the confidence that I will be able to find my niche. Then, once in my niche, I know I will contribute significantly to the concerns at hand. I feel like being a dual social work and public health professional allows me to be both a jack of all trades and a master of my choosing!  

 

It seems like every day the social, political, scientific, and economic dynamics are constantly readjusting in this turbulent world. There does not appear to be a lot of stability, but a silver lining is that I feel prepared to take this turbulence on. Ruth et al. (2008) confirms, “in a society of rapid changes and pressing new realities, public health social work is the profession’s best transdisciplinary response to improving the health and well-being of society” (p.483). Being a dual social work and public health student gives me the competence and flexibility that provides me an edge in this dynamic world. I have the tools from my profession and the passion from my being where I feel perfectly equipped to try to create the best possible future for all the multitudes. 

 

Caitlin Moore graduated from the MSW/MPH program in December 2020. Caitlin is currently working as a Training Associate for the National Network of Public Health Institutes in New Orleans, LA.  

View Caitlin's LinkedIn profile.

 

References 

Bachman, S. S. (2017). Social work and public health: charting the course for innovation.  American Journal of Public Health. doi: 10.2105/AJPH.2017.304209  

Ruth, B. J., Sisco, S., & Marshall, J. W. (2008). Public health social work. Encyclopedia of social  work, 3, 476-483. 

Whitman, W. (2002). Leaves of grass and other writings. Moon, M. (Ed.) New York: Norton 

 

 

 

Collaboration and Dual Professionalism in Social Work and Public Health - Guest Post by Mallory Vaughn (Dec '19)

“If you want to go quickly, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.” – African Proverb 

Mallory Vaughn MSW/MPH (Dec '19)

It seems sometimes, especially in the land of professionalism and academia, we like to separate ourselves into boxes where we can easily fit. Sometimes there is this tendency to prefer to “go it alone,” and rely on a particular profession’s areas of expertise rather than as a collaboration, as collaboration often takes more time to perfect. This is fantastic in terms of allowing for greater specialization and expertise in very specific areas, yet at times, the boxes we create for each discipline can hamper our ability for interdisciplinary collaboration and even prevent us from seeing the bigger picture. 

I have always tended to lean more towards the interdisciplinary side of things and the benefit of having multiple disciplines in my toolbox. From being a double major, learning in multiple languages, and finally having an undergraduate thesis that pulled from a wide range of disciplines including English literature, anthropology, psychology, and even political science. It seemed like every experience I had, the edge I had in each one came from the ability to pull from as many perspectives and as many academic departments as possible to get a full picture of the problem. Now, pursuing my Master of Social Work and Master of Public Health, the need for interdisciplinary collaboration and the ability to learn from multiple lenses is clearer to me now more than ever. 

To me, the definition of a dual professional is more about the unique abilities dual professionals are able to acquire through working within multiple areas. Working within multiple disciplines as a dual professional also includes several assets specific to transdisciplinary work, such as the ability to view things from multiple perspectives, critical thinking and evaluation skills, and intellectual dexterity between knowledge and information from a wider range of perspectives and disciplines (Repko et al., 2014).

Social work and public health are particularly suited for dual professionalism and collaboration, as social work can provide public health with an individual-level perspective to public health’s population level health challenges (Ruth, Sisco & Marshall, 2008). Public health social work is also able to blend social work’s problem solving and community empowering skills with public health’s emphasis on long term prevention, and provides a socio-epidemiological perspective in terms of dealing with health problems (Jackson, 2015). Social work and public health are particularly complementary fields not only because of their potential for collaborative problem solving and interventions but also because their ideals and ethics overlap in many areas. Both the NASW code of ethics and public health’s ethical guidelines both highlight the importance of ethical engagement with the community, engaging with marginalized voices, and promoting social justice (Congress, 2013). 

One of the benefits of being a dual professional is that we get to serve as a link between two disparate professions that actually aren’t as different as they might appear at first glance. As a bridge between multiple fields, we have the opportunity to combine our public health skills of assessing population health issues, our knowledge of biostatistics and epidemiology, and our ability to engage in high-level discourse on a variety of health issues with our social work skills of empathy, creativity, communication, and community-level advocacy. Not only does this give us tremendous skills to use in our work going forward, it also places us in a unique position to act as a liaison between multiple fields and encourage even more transdisciplinary cooperation. As I continue to work towards becoming a dual social work and public health professional, I hope to continue to foster collaboration and cooperation between these two disciplines and encourage a wider range of perspectives to contribute to solutions to the health problems and disparities that continue to challenge our communities. 

- Mallory Vaughn graduated from the MSW/MPH program in December 2019

Mallory is currently working as a Family Connection Coordinator at Catoosa Family Collaborative.
View Mallory's Linkedin Profile here

References: 

• Congress, E. (2013). Ethics for public health social workers. In R. H. Keefe & E. T. Jurkowski (Eds), Handbook for public health social work (pp. 21-40). New York, NY: Springer.
• Jackson, K. (2015, November/December). Public Health Social Work: Now More than Ever. Retrieved April 30, 2019, from https://www.socialworktoday.com/archive/111715p12.shtml
• Repko, A.F., Szostak, R., Buchberger, M.P. (2014). Chapter 3: The Interdisciplinary Studies “Cognitive Toolkit.” In Introduction to Interdisciplinary Studies (pp. 49-61). Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
• Ruth, B. J., Sisco, S., & Marshall, J. W. (2008). Public health social work. Encyclopedia of social work, 3, 476-483.