Incorporating Financial Well-Being into Behavioral Health Social Work Education

ABSTRACT

Teaching financial well-being (FWB) content in social work education programs is gaining prominence in response to both the needs of the students themselves and the clients they serve. However, the content is usually associated with the macro domain or taught as a stand-alone methods course, and thus is rarely incorporated into generalist or direct practice classes. One area where integrating a financial perspective is important is in behavioral health. This paper reviews the importance of teaching FWB content in social work behavioral health classes and explores the relationship between FWB and behavioral health (as pertaining to mental health, habits and addictions, and physical health). It concludes with a discussion of how students can develop personal and professional competencies and how to engage, assess, and intervene in cases impacted by financial concerns.

KEYWORDS:

• Behavioral health
• mental illness
• finance
• addiction
• social work education

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Fernando Wagner and Jodi Jacobson Frey for their assistance in the development of this manuscript.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).