Social Work Organizations Working Together

The recently released National Institutes of Health Plan for Social Work Research (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2003) is evidence of two important trends in the field of social work. One is the growing recognition of the value of social work research for promoting and preserving health in our country. The other is the inclination and capacity for NASW to collaborate with and support other professional social work organizations. In 2003 the Congressional Appropriations Committee commended the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Cancer Institute, and the Office of Behavioral and Social Science Research for their recognition of social work research's important contributions to the nation's health. They urged "NIH to develop a social work research plan that outlines research priorities, as well as a research agenda, across NIH Institutes and Centers" (Senate Report 107-216, 2002, p. 155). In the National Institutes of Health (NIH) plan social work research is defined as studies of the individual, family, group, community, policy and/or organizational level, focusing across the life span on prevention, intervention, treatment, aftercare, and rehabilitation of acute and chronic conditions, including the effects of policy on social work practice. This definition acknowledges that social work research often examines cross-cutting issues, such as children's mental health in juvenile justice settings, aging and caregiving, or community services to diverse cultural groups. Key social work organizations supported development of the report and have been responsive since its release. NASW participated through ANSWER (Action Network for Social Work Education and Research), our advocacy coalition of social work organizations, including NASW, CSWE (Council on Social Work Education), BPD (Baccalaureate Program Directors), SSWR (Society for Social Work Research), IASWR (Institute for the Advancement of Social Work Research), GADE (Group for the Advancement of Doctoral Education), and NADD (National Association of Deans and Directors). All groups encouraged Congress to make the request to NIH and to develop a plan. The report specifies proposals in the areas of social work research, research infrastructure and training, and information dissemination and community outreach. The recommendations include the following: social work research * to establish a Social Work Research Committee, a standing committee internal to NIH, to assess and initiate activities to foster social work research at NIH * to expand outreach activities designed to increase the submission of investigator-initiated research focused on social work practice related to concepts relevant to missions of each NIH Institute * to develop a program announcement entitled Developmental Research on Social Work Practice and Concepts in Health to integrate social work-specific perspectives and concepts into the NIH portfolio and to expand a social work-relevant scientific base that would be useful to allied health professionals research infrastructure and training * to develop a mechanism whereby social work researchers could be added to ongoing NIH research projects to increase mentoring and research training and to improve their competitiveness for NIH training. …