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News Archive

  • minority health

    Research has shown that pregnancy outcomes for African-American women lag behind those for other demographic groups. In order to close this gap, health care providers must recognize the impact of social determinants of health.

  • Interprofessional

    Two USC professors argue that tackling health care issues from the crossroads of social work and nursing can help us better understand their sociocultural causes—and deploy new, more effective solutions for addressing them.

  • stress awareness

    Due to the emotional nature of their jobs, social workers and nurses can be especially susceptible to the negative mental and physical effects of stress. During National Stress Awareness Month, tackle stress head-on with a number of practical self-care methods.

    To a certain degree, everyone experiences stress: we feel nervous meeting with a job interviewer, have anxiety about making it to an appointment on time or feel ourselves holding our breath while watching a tense basketball game. These are all normal, everyday stressors.

  • Aging-Homeless

    More than 280,000 Americans currently live in permanent supportive housing (PSH), and nearly half of those residents are over 50. As more Americans move into PSH, there is an increasing need to address aging in place. The study, funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the first of its kind, will be instrumental in developing a framework to match PSH residents with facilities that meet their needs as they age.

  • holding house keys

    Suzanne Wenzel, Harmony Rhoades, Ben Henwood, and Eric Rice recently conducted a study to understand the changes that homeless adults in Los Angeles experience as they enter and live in permanent supportive housing (PSH).

  • Minority Health

    April is National Minority Health Month, which calls attention to the health disparities that persist among racial and ethnic minorities in the United States. Community members, legislators and educators are encouraged to explore new ways to close these health care gaps and create positive change for the populations affected.

  • Jose Richard Aviles

    MSW student Jose Richard Aviles’ recent TEDxUSC talk offers powerful message about finding strength from vulnerability, trauma and using dance as a tool for social change.

  • Jacqueline Ruddy

    On May 11, 2018, Jacqueline Ruddy will be awarded her Master of Social Work (MSW). She said every minute of her journey to this point has been worth it: All the barriers, all the sacrifices, all the hardships have made her a better person. Now she is ready and equipped with a graduate degree to give back to her community and be a voice for the people who need her.

    Ruddy’s path toward becoming a social worker started when she was a girl. “I was a latchkey kid,” she said. A child of divorce, she was raised by her mother, who worked in a factory. Her father was not in the picture.

  • Bill Wennerholm

    On June 6, 1963, Bill Wennerholm, MSW ’66, sat in the sixth row of his undergraduate commencement ceremony in San Diego, California. The keynote speaker urged the graduating class to take the hard-earned gift they were receiving that day and use it for the good of their fellow man. The speaker was President John F. Kennedy, and Wennerholm felt the president was talking directly to him.

  • Bernice Harper

    Few people have accomplished as much in a lifetime as nonagenarian Bernice Catherine Harper. She reveals her role models, highlights from her career and her hopes for future generations of social workers.

    April is Black Women’s History Month—an opportunity for black women everywhere to reflect on their accomplishments, learn about those who came before and hear the incredible stories of women currently making a difference in their fields.