Responding to Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Public Health Social Work: Health Theory

Approximately half of all social workers are employed in health settings, and that number is expected to substantially increase over the next decade. While most social workers practice clinically, a growing number of us work in community, public, and population health.
This course, Public Health Social Work: Health Theory, provides an opportunity for social workers to explore social determinants of health, and apply and critique the history and theoretical foundations health promotion in the U.S. and to learn more about applications in varied health promotion settings.

Public health social work has always responded to epidemics, natural disasters, wars, terrorism and trauma. While today’s pandemic poses some unique challenges in our globalized world, many are similar to those posed over the course of the profession’s response to need. While some COVID-19 specific readings are interspersed throughout each module, the more general topics are especially applicable to ongoing and future COVID-19 recovery efforts.