In this online course you will learn:

The Coalition for Social Work and Health (the coalition) is a national organization devoted to amplifying social work’s impact in improving health and healthcare for the communities we serve. The coalition developed over 10 years ago out of a workgroup convened by the Council of Social Work Education’s Gero-Ed Center to elevate social work’s impact on health outcomes after the passage of the Affordable Care Act. The coalition brings together social work professional associations and leaders from education, clinical, research, and macro practice backgrounds to engage in policy advocacy, professional development and education, research and evaluation, and communication and outreach. The goal of the coalition is to improve our nation’s health by ensuring that individuals and communities are healthy, thriving, and inclusive.

Coalition members were instrumental in working with interdisciplinary colleagues designing and executing a consensus study from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine which published in 2019 called Integrating Social Needs Care into the Delivery of Health Care to Improve the Nation's Health. In 2022, with generous funding from the New York Community Trust, the coalition was able to elevate their work to include working with two government relations firms to craft, gain bi-partisan support for, and introduction of the bill H.R. 4185 which is called the Integrating Social Workers Across Healthcare Settings Act, which aims to expand access to social work services for Medicare beneficiaries nationwide.

In addition to the policy work, the coalition facilitates three other equally active workgroups that, in turn, also serve to shape future policy directions. These groups include: 1) education and training; 2) strategic communications; and 3) research. Representatives from each workgroup meet at regular intervals to ensure that all groups are aligned and constantly learning from each other. In this presentation, we will discuss the development and growth of the coalition with a focus on our policy work. We will discuss lessons learned and provide practical information for other groups looking to conduct similar work. 

Learning Objectives
1. Participants will identify lessons learned in developing bills that impact social work and health.
2. Participants will learn strategies for elevating practice, education, and policy priorities for social work in healthcare.
3. Participants will understand the work involved in forming and maintaining a coalition and retaining engagement to meet policy needs and gain bi-partisan support for bills in the current political environment.