Health & social work
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Health & social work · May 2011
ReviewHealth literacy: critical opportunities for social work leadership in health care and research.
One-third of U. S. adults do not have adequate health literacy to manage their health care needs; and low health literacy is a major concern due to its association with poor health outcomes, high health care costs, and health communication problems. Low health literacy is a potential driver of health disparities, and its alleviation is central to the values and concerns of the social work profession. ⋯ This gap reflects missed opportunities for social workers to contribute their expertise to the evolving field of health literacy and to strategically align their work with organizational and national priorities. To address this gap, this article provides an overview of health literacy, its relevance to social work, and its representation in disciplinary literature; and it outlines opportunities for health social workers to systematically incorporate health literacy concepts and tools into their practices with patients and families. Implications for a social work research and practice agenda in health literacy are discussed.
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Health & social work · May 2011
Contextual influences on women's health concerns and attitudes toward menopause.
Social factors that affect women's attitudes toward menopause were examined in a sample of 1,037 baby boomer women who took part in two waves of the Midlife in the United States survey. Survey data were collected in 1996 and 2005 from a nationally representative sample of women born between 1946 and 1964 residing in the United States. Women's attitudes toward the effects of menopause on fertility, health, and attractiveness were examined. ⋯ Women who had more positive views of the effects of menopause on health and attractiveness reported fewer symptoms of menopause. These analyses were replicated in waves 1 and 2 of the data set. Results may be helpful to social work practitioners and social work policy advocates.
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Health & social work · May 2010
Understanding and acting on the growing childhood and adolescent weight crisis: a role for social work.
The childhood and adolescent overweight and obesity rates are rising at an alarming rate. Numerous individual, family, community, and social factors contribute to overweight and obesity in children and are explored. ⋯ These efforts include many steps with which social workers should seek to align themselves in terms of their own research and collaborative research and several barriers that hold practice implications for social workers. The importance of social work intervention and collaboration within primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention levels is explored.