Concepts Unifying Social Work and Nursing Collaboration in Practice with Vulnerable Populations

Abstract

The authors focus on how social work and nursing can collaborate in addressing vulnerability as a result of people’s exposure to serious social issues and the challenges they can experience when they are embedded in situations in which deprivation is prevalent. The observations the authors make about interprofessional collaboration emerged from a social work–nursing collaboration the authors developed over a 14-year period in which they worked to conceptualise, test, and refine interventions useful in helping older African American women cope with and emerge out of homelessness. The authors provide background on a community-based project and the issues that it addressed. They also identify and elaborate six concepts useful in unifying social work and nursing in helping members of vulnerable populations, particularly when they experience health issues as a consequence of their exposure to a serious social problem.

Keywords:

• social work
• nursing
• collaboration
• vulnerability
• action research
• social learning
• multi-level intervention
• protective factors
• stress-buffering

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David P. Moxley

David P. Moxley, PhD, Professor, University of Oklahoma Anne and Henry Zarrow School of Social Work, undertakes research in the area of human vulnerability, especially as it manifests itself in social marginalisation and oppression.

Olivia G.M. Washington

Olivia G.M. Washington, PhD, Associate Professor Emerita in the Wayne State University College of Nursing, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Her interests span the ageing of minority persons, health disparities, and African-American health promotion.