Celebrating Social Work Month: Social workers can play a key role in making health more equitable

By Keita Franklin, Ph.D., specialist executive, and Dewin Hernandez, senior consultant, Deloitte Consulting LLP

The fields of social work and public health are inseparable. Both professions are integral components of the U.S. health care system. Social work has long recognized the relationship between individuals and broader social systems to make care and resources more accessible and equitable for vulnerable segments of society.

March is recognized as Social Work Month, and the theme this year is “Empowering Social Workers.”¹ Social workers are on the front lines of many issues that can impact children, families, individuals, and communities. We recently had an opportunity to chat with Tami Gouveia, DrPH, MPH, MSW, from the Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health at Boston University School of Social Work, about the role social work leadership can play in improving health equity. Dr. Gouveia is a leader in social work, public health, policymaking, and change management. She also served two terms in the Massachusetts House of Representatives. Here is an excerpt from our conversation:

Keita: Social workers are uniquely qualified to handle everything from homelessness to opioid addiction to health equity. What do you think people should know about social workers that they might not know?

Tami: There is a misconception that social workers only reach out to people when something goes wrong. Some people think all we do is provide clinical services or therapy. There are more than 700,000 social workers nationwide, and only about 250,000 provide clinical services.² Social workers provide services and resources in schools, in emergency departments, and more recently, in law enforcement agencies, to name a few. Social workers also play a role in government, military, religious, and corporate environments. In addition, clinical social workers are the largest group of mental health service providers in the U.S.³

Keita: But social workers sometimes are not always included in medical care teams. Is that beginning to change?

Tami: My son’s pediatrics office hired two social workers to be part of their care team. That's the direction we should be going with social work…being integrated right in the clinical care or management team. We see the tremendous impact social workers have had in palliative social work and care. In the future, I’d like to see regulatory frameworks that require social workers to be part of health care organizations, or at least encouraged.

Dewin: How can social workers help close the health gap? 

Tami: Social workers need to be at the policymaking tables where decisions about fee schedules, reimbursement rates, and scopes of practice are being made. This includes getting social workers to our state legislatures as well as in our halls of Congress. There also is a responsibility for those in academic spaces to translate research into practice and to use emerging evidence to highlight the macro implications of their findings. It is important that academic social workers publish their data in accessible media, not just in academic journals. And they can play a larger role in advocating for systems-level changes and changes in how services are financed.

Keita: Why did you decide to run for state office?

Tami: Social workers can play a role in building collective power and community power. I served in the Massachusetts legislature for four years and I continue to reach out to my former colleagues, particularly in the Black and Latino caucuses, to make sure that we support social work efforts that address health equity. When I ran for office, I didn’t think anyone would want to vote for a social worker. But I found that people got really excited when they found out I am a social worker. They believe social workers understand what a lot of people are going through and the challenges that people are facing. Growing up in a working-class city in Massachusetts, I saw how some local policy decisions sometimes left people behind. I wanted to give those people a voice and make sure policies were addressing the needs of people and their families. Social workers are empowered to create change, but they can’t do it alone.

Dewin: What accomplishment are you most proud of?

Tami: My community of Lowell, Massachusetts was hit hard by the opioid epidemic in 2007.⁴ This was driven by policies that failed to support and protect the economic well-being—and the health and housing needs—of individuals. In addition, the shift in how doctors measure pain accelerated patient demand and doctor prescriptions of pain medications, such as opioids.⁵ I worked with city leaders to form the Lowell Roundtable on Substance Abuse Prevention. We were able to secure millions in Federal and state funding to try to make a difference.⁶ This allowed us to pass policies to protect young people from tobacco and alcohol abuse and study who was most impacted by the opioid epidemic.

Dewin: How do you think substance abuse is viewed differently today?

Tami: There is a lot more understanding and less stigma than 20 or 30 years ago; people were typically punished for using or being addicted to drugs. Today, social workers help people receive treatment for substance use disorder to support long-term recovery. Innovations have taken place because the issues are viewed through an equity lens, driven in part by better research and the voices of family members impacted by addiction.

Dewin: How can public policy play a role in addressing some of the social drivers of health?

Tami: Having reliable and affordable transportation can impact physical and mental well-being. When I was in the legislature, a constituent formed a nonprofit that repaired donated cars and sold them to veterans and single parents for $900 with a no-interest loan, which helped them build credit. Having a car means they can get to a job, make health care appointments, and take their kids to school. That helps make health care more accessible and equitable. This is really a health equity program.

Keita: What advice do you have for social workers who might be resistant to innovation or new technologies like AI?

Tami: Social workers should figure out how to leverage AI. It could save them a lot of time when it comes to scheduling meetings and transcribing notes. I fear we could lose ground in that space if we don’t embrace the positives of the technology. It is also our responsibility to understand AI, because our clients are going to be impacted by it. The communities we work with are going to be impacted by it. Legislation is being written around the use of AI. In an age of growing disinformation, it is important that we explore if something was written by AI. Is it accurate? Is it exacerbating biases, such as racism or sexism? The field of social work has evolved and will continue to evolve as AI becomes integrated.

I see some points of bright light where people are starting to say we need to be doing things very differently. There is a push for health equity after decades of not acknowledging it. There is a new mentality around what it means to have an equitable and fair society.

Conclusion:

Social workers tend to have their fingers on the pulse of the communities they serve. Integrating social work and social care into health care can be a pivotal step toward fostering health equity and improving accessibility. The path, however, isn't always straightforward. Funding limitations can sometimes hold social interventions back, even when advancing funding can improve health outcomes while reducing overall costs. In keeping with the theme of Social Work Month, health care professionals, businesses, and other stakeholders should help empower social workers who can help ensure that care and resources are more accessible and equitable for vulnerable segments of society.

The individual’s participation in this article is solely for educational purposes based on their knowledge of the subject and the views expressed by them are solely their own. This article should not be deemed or construed to be for the purpose of soliciting business for any of the companies mentioned, nor does Deloitte advocate or endorse the services or products provided by these companies.

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Endnotes:

¹ Social Work Month, National Association of Social Workers, March 2024
² Health care workforce shortages and solutions, Letter from the National Association of Social Workers to U.S. Senators, March 20, 2023
³ What is clinical social work?, American Board of Clinical Social Work
⁴ City of Lowel Opioid Epidemic Crisis Task Force, Office of the Mayor, April 2019
⁵ Pain Management and the opioid epidemic, National Academies, 2017
⁶ Lowell drug-abuse roundtable gets funding, The Lowell Sun, August 31, 2011