COVID-19 has highlighted the role of a public health perspective in social work education

ABSTRACT

With the exception of students in dual MSW-MPH degree programs, few social work students are exposed to public health in the classroom setting. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of training social workers in health promotion, prevention, and addressing health disparities at the population-level. This article describes the field of public health social work, the foundational principles of public health and the benefits of including public health in a social work curriculum. Specific examples of content are presented related to COVID-19 vaccine access and hesitancy to illustrate this interdisciplinary approach. The COVID-19 pandemic has taught us that public health is an integral component of social work education.

KEYWORDS:

• Social work
• public health
• education
• COVID-19
• vaccines

Acknowledgments

I would like to thank Drs. Erika Sabbath and Sam Teixeira for their thoughtful feedback.

Disclosure statement

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

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Summer Sherburne Hawkins

Summer Sherburne Hawkins is an Associate Professor at the Boston College School of Social Work. She is a social epidemiologist who examines the impact of policies on disparities in women’s and children’s health. Since 2014, she has been teaching a course she developed at Boston College called Public Health Social Work.