This is a new edition of the wildly successful everyday reference for social workers. Like the first edition, it has been crafted with the help of an extensive needs assessment survey of educators and front-line practitioners, ensuring that it speaks directly to the daily realities of the profession. It features 40% new material and a more explicit focus on evidence-based practice.

"What makes the profession of social work distinctive and exciting? How do social workers differ from sociologists, psychologists, and other counselors, advocates, and helping professionals? Which degrees, licenses, and credentials can social workers obtain? And in what kinds of work, or fields of practice, can social workers specialize? All these questions are worth considering when one feels led to become a professional social worker"--

"What makes the profession of social work distinctive and exciting? How do social workers differ from sociologists, psychologists, and other counselors, advocates, and helping professionals? Which degrees, licenses, and credentials can social workers obtain? And in what kinds of work, or fields of practice, can social workers specialize? All these questions are worth considering when one feels led to become a professional social worker"--

Desk copy for professors who use The Writer's Handbook: A Guide for Social Workers, 2e.

People all over the world are confronted by issues such as poverty, a lack of access to quality education, unaffordable and or inadequate housing, and a lack of needed health and mental services on a daily basis. Due to these issues, there is a need for social workers who have access to relevant and timely scholarly materials in order to meet the needs of those facing these issues. The social, psychological, and biological factors resulting from these issues determine the level of a person's mental health at any given point in time and it is necessary for social workers to continue to evolve and develop to the new faces and challenges of the times in order to adequately understand the effects of these issues. In the first and second editions of the Social Workers' Desk Reference, the changes that were occurring in social work practice, education, and research were highlighted and focused upon. This third edition continues in the same tradition and continues to respond to the changes occurring in society and how they are impacting the education, research, and practice of social work as a whole. With 159 chapters collaboratively written by luminaries in the profession, this third edition serves as a comprehensive guide to social work practice by providing the most recent conceptual knowledge and empirical evidence to aid in the understanding of the rapidly changing field of social work. Each chapter is short and contains practical information in addition to websites and updated references. Social work practitioners, educators, students, and other allied professionals can utilize the Social Workers' Desk Reference to gain interdisciplinary and interprofessional education, practice, and research.

There are certain questions that all students considering social work ask. Who are social workers? What is it that social workers do? How is the social work profession changing? What does it take to become a social worker? Ira Colby and Sophia Dziegielewski bring their decades of experience in social work practice and education to answer these questions. This engaging text gives readers a practical guide to the many ways in which social workers effect change in their communities and the world. The authors offer an overview and history of the profession; introduce readers to the practice of social work at the micro, mezzo, and macro level; and finally look closely at the many settings and populations that social workers work with. While realistically portraying the pressures and obstacles that social workers face, Colby and Dziegielewski communicate their own passion for social work.

This third edition of a best-selling social work text reflects the dramatic changes that have taken place in our health care environment since the second edition was published in 2004óand will likely continue to take place. It is a practical guide for social workers who must navigate our complex health care environment and accept new challenges while adapting to continual change. The book encompasses many facets of professional health care social work within the U.S. health care system, across key health care settings and with numerous different patient populations. The book is also a call to action for social workers, who today must not only be therapeutically effective but must be professionally competitive with other health care providers that claim similar treatment strategies and techniques. Permeating the third edition is a strong emphasis on the importance of developing best practices that are evidence-based, supportive, and ethically accountable while remaining time-limited and cost-effective. Each chapter contains a Glossary, Questions for Further Study, and a list of relevant websites. At the end of each chapter, a ìFuture Directionsî section helps social workers understand what to expect and how to prepare for changes in order to practice successfully. This third edition additionally encompasses updated professional profiles for diverse arenas of practice and is accompanied by an Instructorís Manual that provides a test bank, activities designed to enhance learning, and a sample syllabus. Completely new or updated sections examine: Mental health parity Changes in billing Evidence-based practice strategy Electronic record keeping and other advances in health technology Information related to the DSM-5 Protecting yourself legally in your documentation Protecting the privacy of the client Supervision in the health care setting The importance of teamwork and collaboration Social work in the military and VA settings Safety planning