New resource highlights concerning impact of new Dept. of Education proposed policy on future social work workforce
If you’ve been following the Department of Education’s latest rulemaking, you may have heard about the plan to phase out Grad PLUS loans for all new graduate students. But what’s gotten far less attention is the selection of what counts as a “professional degree” to inform the new loan caps. And that decision could reshape […]
Environmental Inequity: Impacts on Health in Chicago
As an AmeriCorps Member in the Department of Social Work and Community Health at RUSH University Medical Center, I help connect patients to various resources through our system’s Social Determinants of Health Screener. Through this experience, I was inspired to dive deeper into other factors that may impact someone’s health. A healthy environment is an […]
Addressing Stigma and Structural Barriers in Substance Use Treatment
As AmeriCorps members conducting social determinants of health (SDOH) screeners, we’ve witnessed firsthand how structural barriers and health disparities interconnect and compound. From transportation barriers resulting in difficulties accessing primary care to financial barriers preventing medication follow-up, our conversations with patients have illuminated health as a complex environmental web. January is Substance Use Disorder Treatment […]
Fluid Like Water: Community Health Workers in the RUSH Cancer Center
The webinar series Social Determinants of Health Screening (SDOH): Navigating to Address Barriers, hosted by the American Cancer Society, highlighted how Community Health Workers (CHWs) conduct SDoH screenings effectively. Through these screenings, CHWs can identify and address barriers to equitable care. The following focuses on two sessions from this series, both featuring the interdisciplinary and […]
Elevating Social Determinants of Health within Healthcare Settings
As healthcare providers, we see the profound impact that the conditions in which patients live, work, and play have on patient health. These non-medical factors, also called social determinants of health, must be addressed in order to improve health outcomes and quality of life. In 2018, during a speech at the Hatch Center, former Secretary […]