Betty J. Ruth

Boston University | BU · School of Social Work

Social work is an essential workforce integral to the United States’ public health infrastructure and response to COVID-19. To understand stressors among frontline social workers during COVID-19, a cross-sectional study of U.S-based social workers (N = 1,407) in health settings was collected (in June through August 2020). Differences in outcome dom...

Social workers have engaged in promotive, preventive, and intervention work throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Given that social workers are disproportionately women, and the essential nature of practice during the pandemic, how social workers experience caretaking and financial stressors warrants examination. Data are drawn from a larger cross-sect...

Social work has been a part of the essential workforce historically and throughout the COVID‐19 pandemic, yet lack recognition. This work explores the experiences and invisibility of social workers within the pandemic response. Data are drawn from a large cross‐sectional survey of US‐based social worker from June to August of 2020. A summative cont...

While social workers have served as frontline workers responding to the needs of vulnerable populations during COVID-19 pandemic, little is known about how social work professionals themselves have been impacted. This article explored the impact of COVID-19 on social work professionals’ mental health, physical health, and access to personal protect...

Since the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) first emerged in December 2019, there have been unprecedented efforts worldwide to contain and mitigate the rapid spread of the virus through evidence-based public health measures. As a component of pandemic response in the United States, efforts to develop, launch, and scale-up contact tracing initiat...

Progress in refining the definition and basic concepts of public health social work (PHSW) is central to its revitalization. Advancing PHSW further depends on understanding the roles, domains, and daily activities of current PHSW practitioners in the contemporary workforce. The goal of the Profiles in PHSW Study is to explore how public health soci...

Introduced in 2013 by the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare, the Grand Challenges for Social Work (GCSW) implicitly embrace a public health perspective. However, the lack of a specific overarching conceptual framework creates a challenge for moving the GCSW from concept to practice. In this article, authors propose that public heal...

Social work education plays a critical role in preparing social workers to lead efforts that improve health. Because of the dynamic health care landscape, schools of social work must educate students to facilitate health care system improvements, enhance population health, and reduce medical costs. We reviewed the existing contributions of social w...

Objectives: To establish a baseline of health content in 4 domains of US social work education-baccalaureate, master's, doctoral, and continuing education programs-and to introduce the Social Work Health Impact Model, illustrating social work's multifaceted health services, from clinical to wide-lens population health approaches. Methods: We ana...

Social work is a core health profession with origins deeply connected to the development of contemporary public health in the United States. Today, many of the nation's 600 000 social workers practice broadly in public health and in other health settings, drawing on a century of experience in combining clinical, intermediate, and population approac...

This article presents findings from a 2013 qualitative study of social work continuing education (CE) in Massachusetts. Eleven focus groups were conducted with 75 participants from key stakeholder groups: practitioners, educators, licensing board members, and agency administrators. Although positive perspectives surfaced—such as diversity of CE opt...

This study assesses the potential of social work–facilitated patient navigation to help mothers with depression engage with mental health care. We conducted a randomized pilot trial (N = 47) in Head Start—a U.S. preschool program for low-income children. Seven lay navigators received training and supervision from professional social workers. After...

In light of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's goals of better patient care, cost control, and improved population outcomes, prevention has emerged as an important component of health reform. Social work, with its extensive involvement in the health system and deep roots in public health, can benefit from a better understanding of its...

Dual-degree programs in public health and social work continue to proliferate, yet there has been little research on masters of social work (MSW)/masters of public health (MPH) graduates. The purpose of this study was to describe and better understand the self-reported professional experiences, identities, roles, and outcomes associated with 1 grou...

Background An emerging evidence-base underscores the importance of inter-professional approaches in the growing global health movement. (Merson, Black & Mills, 2012) Despite social work’s historic involvement in international social development, little is known about the profession’s role in advancing global health. Public health social work (PHS...

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) relies upon the “triple aim” of better patient care, cost control and improved population outcomes to enhance health. With ACA’s advent, there is pressure on all health professions to shift from individually-focused medical model practices to prevention and public health models (Zabora, 2013). Unfortunately, little is...

This article presents data from an exploratory study on class participation and student self-censorship. The impetus for this research is concern that content on multiculturalism and oppression inhibits open debate and dialogue, a form of suppression that conservatives term “political correctness.” Through survey and focus group data, the authors e...

Overview: Dual-degree programs in social work and public health (MSW/MPH) are popular and appear to be growing. As of 2006, approximately 20 programs existed. These programs train master's level practitioners to draw from both field's theories, research, and interventions to impact today's multifaceted social health issues. While clearly important...

Powerful issues, including persistent health inequalities, increasing chronic disease rates, and health reform, have reignited a national conversation on the need for prevention. Despite social work's commitment to promoting well-being, little is known about its involvement in prevention and the extent to which prevention is present in the professi...

Suicide is a profound worldwide public health problem that has received increased attention in recent years. The major federal response, the National Strategy for Suicide Prevention, calls for more suicide education for mental health professionals, including social workers. Little is known about the amount of suicide education in MSW curricula nati...

Dual-degree programs in public health and social work continue to proliferate. In the last twenty years, the number of programs appears to have doubled, reflecting a growing interest in trans-disciplinary approaches to prevention and intervention in complex social health problems. Each year, an unidentified number of MSW/MPH graduates enter the wor...

The integration of prevention and public health approaches into social work practice is expanding, as evidenced by increased research and scholarly writing on public health social work (PHSW), national conversations among social work leaders, and continued proliferation of MSW/ MPH programs. Each year, an unidentified number of graduates from MSW/M...

Anxiety and related disorders are among the most prevalent mental health disorders with approximately 18% of adults and 25% of children affected nationally. Despite improvements in effective anxiety treatments, the National Institute of Mental Health estimates that fewer than 15% of those with anxiety and related disorders receive minimally accepta...

Every day in the United States, over halfa million social workers provide services to people with health, mental health, and substance abuse problems in a fragmented system that emphasizes disease treatment over prevention. Powerful issues--including health inequities, population aging, globalization, natural disaster, war, and economic downturn--m...

Each day, over half a million US social workers provide services to people with health, mental health and substance abuse problems in a fragmented system that emphasizes treatment over prevention. Powerful issues, including health inequities, population aging, globalization, natural disaster, war, and economic downturn make the need for preventive...

Suicide is a significant public health problem. Although social workers are the leading providers of mental health services in the country, little is known about suicide prevention and intervention (SPI) training in MSW education. The majority of social workers reported inadequate training in a national survey of social workers on SPI (Feldman & Fr...

Suicide is a profound public health problem requiring a strategic national response, including the provision of training on suicide prevention and intervention (SPI) to all mental health professionals. Social workers are the leading providers of mental health services in the country, however, little is known about their SPI training. The only natio...

Suicide is a profound, pandemic, public health issue requiring a strategic national response, including the provision of appropriate training on suicide prevention to all mental health professionals. Social workers are now the leading providers of mental health services in the country. Despite this, little is known about the training of social work...

The emergence of new, complex social health concerns demands that the public health field strengthen its capacity to respond. Academic institutions are vital to improving the public health infrastructure. Collaborative and transdisciplinary practice competencies are increasingly viewed as key components of public health training. The social work pr...

Public health social work (PHSW) is a multi-method, interdisciplinary, epidemiologically-oriented approach to improving human health and well-being. While not a new area of practice, increased interest seeks to promote additional social work involvement in the public health workforce. Across the United States, some 20 MSW/MPH academic programs trai...

This study compared dual-degree master of social work/master of public health (MSW/MPH) and MSW-only graduates with 3 or more years of postgraduate experience. Thirty graduates from an MSW/MPH program were matched with 30 MSW-only graduates. All subjects were randomly selected from the alumni directory and interviewed via telephone. Results showed...

Teaching about race, racism and multiculturalism is challenging for all instructors. This paper identifies and explores particular challenges for white educators teaching this material. Strategies are offered to help white instructors to constructively meet these challenges and create meaningful learning environments for all students.

This article presents data from an exploratory study on class participation and student self-censorship. The impetus for this research is concern that content on multiculturalism and oppression inhibits open debate and dialogue, a form of suppression that conservatives term "political correctness." Through survey and focus group data, the authors e...