
Health & Social Services
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Answering the Call: What Crisis Work Reveals About Public Health and Social Work
Social workers often experience a lack of clarity around our role in interdisciplinary teams. Social workers bring additional expertise in systems thinking, trauma-informed care and community engagement. Including social workers in strategic planning, policy development and leadership roles can help create more equitable and responsive public health programs, says the intern. The intern is also a strong advocate for social work leadership being more present in public health spaces. The internship is sponsored by the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255) or visit http://www.suicidepreventionlifeline.org/. For confidential support on suicide matters call the Samaritans on 08457 90 90 90 or visit a local Samaritans branch, see www.samaritans.org for details. In the U.S. call the National suicide Prevention Line on 1- 800-273.-8255 or click here for information on how to get in touch with the National suicidal Prevention Line.
Despite this alignment, I’ve also noticed the differences between social work and public health. One of the clearest differences is in how the two fields approach assessment. Public health professionals often use tools such as needs assessments and health impact assessments to gather data and track population-level needs. These tools are essential for planning, resource allocation and policy development, but they don’t always capture what is unfolding in the middle of a crisis call.
On the crisis line, there is no time for formal intake tools. We rely on a caller’s tone, language and urgency to guide our response. We use frameworks such as person-in-environment and biopsychosocial assessments to understand all the external and internal factors that influence the individual. These assessments are flexible and narrative, but because they don’t always align with structured data systems, our insights are harder to integrate into public health practice. Relationship-based assessment, knowing how to listen and what to ask, can be just as informative as a checklist, but it is not easily captured in the kinds of standardized tools used in public health settings. While many public health professionals also are invested in person-centered care, creating shared frameworks that combine the structure of public health tools with the depth of social work assessments could improve both communication and collaboration.
A challenge social workers often experience is a lack of clarity around our role in interdisciplinary teams. I have noticed that professionals and patients alike often do not fully understand what we’re trained to do. Most commonly, we’re seen as therapists. Sometimes as case managers. Sometimes as advocates. The truth is that we can fill all these roles and more, depending on the context. Social workers provide a unique perspective to public health due to our relationship-based assessments and in-depth Code of Ethics. Hospitals, schools, legislative bodies, community health centers and other organizations benefit every day from the careful, holistic approach social workers provide. But when our role is not well understood, it is easy for our voices to be left out of care planning or decision making. Promoting role clarity through interprofessional training, onboarding and cross-discipline collaboration could make a meaningful difference.
Siloed systems also complicate collaboration. In crisis work, I often speak to callers who fall between the cracks. They might qualify for services through one agency but not another. For example, some callers can access clinical assessments through local crisis centers, while others in more remote areas can’t due to service deserts or eligibility rules. Additionally, privacy concerns may limit our ability to make referrals. Solutions could include more coordinated referrals procedures that maintain confidentiality while streamlining services.
Part of the challenge also stems from historically limited interdisciplinary education, though this is beginning to change. Joint programs, shared coursework and integrated field placements are becoming more common in social work and public health education. Before starting this internship, I had very little exposure to public health frameworks, and many of the public health professionals I’ve met say the same about social work. Expanding interprofessional education across institutions or through simulations, joint seminars or cross-training placements would better prepare students to understand each other’s roles and work together more effectively from the start.
I am also a strong advocate for social work leadership being more present in public health spaces. Social workers bring additional expertise in systems thinking, trauma-informed care and community engagement. We are trained to see both the individual and the system and can easily move between them with the rapport we build with individuals and communities. By responding to the individual, social workers develop a deep understanding of how systems succeed or fail in real time, something that data can’t always show. This insight can sharpen public health strategies and ground them in practical, lived realities. Many public health professionals share this dual lens, and together we are better positioned to design systems that reflect lived experience and create meaningful change. Elevating social work leadership is not just a matter of professional recognition. Including social workers in strategic planning, policy development and leadership roles can help create more equitable and responsive public health programs.
Working in both public health and crisis intervention has shown me how much stronger our systems could be if we worked together more intentionally. Every time I pick up a call from someone in distress, I’m reminded that no one profession alone can meet the depth of what people are carrying. But by inviting social work perspectives into public health spaces, and vice versa, we can build systems that are more coordinated, more compassionate and more capable of meeting people where they are, allowing for both immediate responses and long-term stability.
New service launched for health and social care assistance in Lochaber
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The Experiences of Women seeking International Protection Accessing Health & Social Care in NI report published
The report was commissioned by the Department of Health in 2024 to examine the experiences of women and children who arrived in Northern Ireland seeking international protection. 167 women from 15 nationalities, including Syrian, Ukrainian, Sudanese, Afghan, and Iraqi communities, engaged with this work. A total of 19 engagement sessions took place across Northern Ireland. The report includes a number of recommendations centring on addressing three key issues – cultural, language and navigation. To the women who gave their time and shared their lived experiences with us, I want to say thank you. I want you to know that we are listening to you, your voices are important to us and you have been heard.
The Health Minister has launched a report highlighting the difficulties that some women and children in the immigration system may face when accessing Health and Social Care services.
The report was commissioned by the Department of Health in 2024 to examine the experiences of women and children who arrived in Northern Ireland seeking international protection.
It explores the potential barriers that women and children in the People Seeking International Protection (PSIP) pathways may face when accessing services and makes a series of recommendations to help address them.
Health Minister Mike Nesbitt, who launched the report at an event in Parliament Buildings, said: “Health and Social Care plays a critical role in supporting safe immigration and integration journeys. “What many may consider to be the most straightforward of processes can be an overwhelming experience for someone who has just arrived in Northern Ireland. “This report is a much-welcomed addition to the conversation on how we can collectively support integration in Northern Ireland. It will provide a significant evidence base as we move forward to commission support services and tackle health inequalities for those who have chosen to make Northern Ireland their home.”
In total, 167 women from 15 nationalities, including Syrian, Ukrainian, Sudanese, Afghan, and Iraqi communities, engaged with this work and had an opportunity to share their experiences of accessing Health and Social Care services, specifically Maternity Services, Public Health Nursing, Social Services and Mental Health Services, either for themselves or on behalf of children.
Experiences of Women seeking International Protection Accessing Health & Social Care in NI report published
A total of 19 engagement sessions took place across Northern Ireland.
The report includes a number of recommendations centring on addressing three key issues – cultural, language and navigation.
These are:
Carry out an audit of best practice across Trust areas;
Establish a standardised approach to support services, ensuring equitable access across different regions;
Promote best practices in interpreting services and translations;
Embed the Cultural Competence Framework across Health & Social Care;
Create, or optimise and strengthen, the existing central resource to support people seeking international protection in navigating health and social care services;
Commission education programmes to build awareness of health conditions and preventative care, to be delivered within local community settings.
The Minister added: “The experiences of a marginalised group of people, whom some would refer to as hard to reach, have been systematically recorded in a way that allows the wider HSC family to develop and improve their services to meet the needs of their service users. “My Department and the Trusts have already started to implement the recommendations of the report. To the women who gave their time and shared their lived experiences with us, I want to say thank you. I want you to know that we are listening to you, your voices are important to us and you have been heard.”
Division of Developmental Disabilities Services
The Division of Developmental Disabilities Services (DDDS) supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live their good lives. DDDS works to identify and support the unique needs of eligible service recipients by offering access to an extensive network of providers. To report an incident of abuse, neglect, mistreatment, financial exploitation, or an individual rights complaint, use the DDDS Incident Reporting System. If you receive an error message when attempting to use this link, please contact the Office of Incident Resolution Administrator for 302-836-2185.
Welcome to Delaware’s Division of Developmental Disabilities Services (DDDS). DDDS supports individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities to live their good lives by accessing services they need to thrive in their community. DDDS works to identify and support the unique needs of eligible service recipients by offering access to an extensive network of providers including: employment and pre-vocational services; support coordination and community navigation; assistive technologies; respite; a variety of day and residential programs; and, options for supported living.
Report Abuse and Neglect If you see, hear, suspect, or have concerns about a person living in a residential setting or receiving supported living services, attending
a day program or receiving supported employment services, please contact the Office of Incident Resolution. To report an incident of abuse, neglect, mistreatment, financial exploitation, or an individual rights complaint, use the DDDS Incident
Reporting System. Not sure if you should report, contact us anyway. We will take care of the rest. If you receive an error message when attempting to use this link, please contact the Office of Incident Resolution Administrator for
statewide reporting at 302-836-2185.
DDDS Supports and Services
Direct Support Professionals (DSPs) DSPs work alongside people with physical and/or intellectual disabilities to help them live above their limitations, thrive in their community, and reach their full personal potential. The roles are as varied as they are rewarding – and personal growth, advancement, and fulfillment are just part of the job. Learn about DSPs and apply today!
DDDS MISSION The Division of Developmental Disabilities Services values persons with intellectual and developmental disabilities, honors abilities, respects choice, and achieves possibilities. We work together to support healthy, safe and fulfilling lives.
Employee of the Year
Alex Dobrich
Alex is currently Stockley Center’s Adaptive Equipment Tech. Before his transition to his new role, Alex served in a number of roles in facilities management. Alex was nominated for his service to the Stockley Center during a water main break last year. The break not only limited water supplies on the campus, but threatened to cut off access to the water filtration system. Alex’s actions over the next three days ensured uninterrupted access to clean water for the Center and its residents until repairs were made to the main. It is our privilege to celebrate Alex as the FY2024 Employee of the Year and recognize his invaluable contributions to the DDDS team.
Partner Websites
Source: https://www.crs.org/our-work/program-areas/health-social-services