Back to Annual Meeting Page		American Public Health Association 133rd Annual Meeting & Exposition December 10-14, 2005 Philadelphia, PA

Abstract #115539

Tracy Whitaker, ACSW, Toby Weismiller, ACSW, and Melvin Wilson, MBA, MSW. Center for Workforce Studies, National Association of Social Workers, 750 First Street, Washington, DC 20002, 202-336-8288, twhitaker@naswdc.org

The 21st century promises dramatic increases both in the need for and in the utilization of health care services. As the “baby boom” ages, the nation's healthcare workforce is anticipating a crisis that will extend beyond the current nursing shortage, affecting the availability of a range of health care professionals, including social workers. In addition, there is strong speculation that the current supply of the behavioral healthcare workforce is inadequate to provide services to all who currently need them, much less able to meet a significantly increased demand. Social workers are important components of the health and behavioral health systems of care. In a range of care settings, social workers provide services to individuals and their families navigating increasingly complex service environments. Despite this pivotal role in frontline service delivery, virtually no literature exists on the labor market for social workers. Yet, a sufficient supply of appropriately trained social workers is essential to meet our society's evolving needs in health and behavioral health care service delivery systems. To address this information gap, the National Association of Social Workers (NASW) conducted a landmark national study of 10,000 licensed social workers to assess the adequacy of the supply of social workers, their geographic distribution, and their skill sets. As a result of this survey, data now exist to forecast the future supply and demand for social workers in health and behavioral health care service delivery systems and to more effectively plan for the recruitment and retention of this professional labor force.

Learning Objectives:

• • ·Identify the factors contributing to an impending shortage of health and behavioral health care social workers;
  • ·Identify health and behavioral health care service settings likely to be adversely affected by frontline labor force shortages; and
  • ·Understand the need for social work labor force preparation, development, and appropriate deployment during this time of changing population demographics and service needs.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

I wish to disclose that I have NO financial interests or other relationship with the manufactures of commercial products, suppliers of commercial services or commercial supporters.