News Archive
-
Not only do individuals with serious mental illness die an average of 25 years earlier than the general population, but those deaths are also often attributed to preventable medical conditions.
Improving how those individuals interact with the complex and often uncoordinated health care system is a key component of a new intervention being tested by John Brekke, the Frances G. Larson Professor of Social Work Research at the USC School of Social Work.
-
The USC School of Social Work has kick-started a national Grand Challenges initiative to identify and highlight the most serious societal ills that social work can – and should – address.
Major challenges exist: fragmented systems of health and mental health care, problems of social stigma and oppression, a need to reform the child welfare and foster care sector. Where the social fabric is fraying or worn, social work researchers and practitioners are striving to address issues that plague society.
-
One of the most impactful global immersion programs the USC School of Social Work holds is in India, where a group of Master of Social Work students and faculty traveled over the summer to visit, observe and participate in community development projects in Mumbai, Pune and Jawhar. They saw first-hand how extreme poverty forced many people to live in slums and dig through mountains of trash to find recyclables to exchange for money. They also witnessed how a social worker with a background in business started a micro-finance nonprofit organization to empower women.
-
Mike Baker sits on a therapist’s couch—in blue jeans and a buttoned-down shirt, nervously clutching his hands.
Baker was deployed to Afghanistan with the National Guard a year ago and is now having trouble at home. His wife made him get help, but talking is the last thing on Baker’s mind.
“I know this is your job to ask me a bunch of questions, but let me ask you something,” he said. “Did you ever serve?”
-
Major depression coupled with other chronic health problems, such as heart disease or diabetes, can place a severe burden on low-income, culturally diverse individuals who are less comfortable interacting with doctors and navigating complex health care systems.
-
When Clinical Associate Professor Beverly Younger of the USC School of Social Work assigned Split at the Root: A Memoir of Love and Lost Identity to her Human Behavior and the Social Environment class, she knew it was the perfect choice to convey how the influence of class, race and ethnicity can impact one’s growth and development. What she didn’t know was she would have the opportunity to discuss it with the author herself—former actress and model Catana Tully—an introduction she owes to her student and Facebook.
-
Controversy over the legitimacy of removing children from their home because of excessive weight has ensued since the Cuyahoga County Department of Family Services removed an 8-year-old, 200-lb. Ohio boy from his mother’s care in 2011, citing medical neglect as the cause. Case workers noted that the mother failed to control the third-grader’s health, putting him at high risk for severe medical conditions in the future, according to a Time magazine article.
-
The recognition and praise associated with a Medal of Honor for heroics during one of the deadliest battles in Afghanistan does not come easy to Staff Sgt. Ty Michael Carter. But that is starting to change.
“I’ve learned to accept it because I now have a new mission,” he said.
Speaking to more than 100 people Tuesday at the University of Southern California, Carter said he wants to use his newfound attention to destigmatize the invisible wounds of war—post-traumatic stress disorder.
-
When Abby and Alan D. Levy’s daughter Jacqueline (“Jackie”) was in high school, she worked as a volunteer at Teen Line, answering phone calls from troubled teenagers. One night, when Abby went to pick up their daughter after her shift was supposed to be over, she found that Jackie wasn’t finished yet. After much waiting, Jackie emerged, armed with a new life’s purpose. She had just convinced a suicidal teenager to seek help. She had just saved a life.
-
Students in the USC School of Social Work’s social welfare course (SOWK 535) learn by doing, engaging in advocacy and persuasion for positive social change. From writing editorials and creating public service announcements to rallying for reform and lobbying government officials, they are making their voices heard on policy while helping others. And, thanks to the course’s availability through the school’s online Master of Social Work degree program, those efforts reach far beyond Los Angeles.