Recognize these unsung heroes of home care

Shine a spotlight on social workers in your community this March by observing National Professional Social Work Month. Visit the website of the National Association of Social Workers for lots of great ideas for promoting and volunteering your agency’s time in honor of social workers. 

• Visit the association's Social Work Month page for a great toolkit to help you celebrate the observance. It includes topics such as advocacy and events. Use this as a resource when planning your participation in this year’s observance.
• Volunteer for a class discussion group at a local adult day care on the benefits social workers can bring to Alzheimer’s patients in your community. Here's a great resource to find talking points as you prepare.
• Dedicate one of your agency’s bulletin boards to honoring social workers this month. Decorate it with images depicting the work these important professionals do.
• Recognize the social workers on your staff and those who work closely with your agency. For your staff members, publicly thank them on your website and offer them a token of your thanks as the month gets started.
• Deliver thank-you cards and stickers to social workers who work with in your community, making sure to call on those that work in your local hospital discharge offices.
• Become an advocate for social workers. Place an item on your municipal government’s agenda seeking to proclaim March 2017 as Social Work Month in your town. Here's a great template to modify for your town.
• Host a salad bar drop-in lunch on a Friday in March for your community’s social workers. A representative of your agency should take a few minutes to officially express gratitude to these professionals. 
   

Highlight your agency this Social Work Month

Social workers are an often overlooked piece of the home care puzzle. It’s time to celebrate these heroes because March is National Social Work Month. Visit the website of the National Association of Social Workers to learn more about the work of these tireless professionals and ways you can help shine a spotlight on them.

• Send an email of thanks to all the social workers in your agency and others in the community. Include a link to an uplifting TED Talk featuring Brené Brown, a social work professional.
• Ask a social worker on your staff or one from your community to write a guest blog for your website about social work and home care.
• Show your agency’s support for the National Social Work Public Education Campaign. Host an information luncheon in which area social workers can present the services and hard work they do for the community. Learn more about the campaign here.
• Send specialized Social Work Month greeting cards to the social work professionals who work for and with your agency every day.
• Donate an hour or allow your employees to honor their social worker coworkers by donating an hour to the Give an Hour campaign that serves the mental needs of our nation’s troops and their families. You also can make a monetary donation if you prefer. Let your staff and your community know about your support of this effort. Learn more here.
• Provide hospitals in your area with discharge planner brochures and be sure to highlight the work of your agency’s social work professionals as you show your support for National Social Work Month.