Doug Smith and Reggie Smith advocate for criminal justice reform
Spring 2017
Whole health
Caring for patients’ bodies and minds at People’s Community Clinic
Anatomy of a lesson
A peek into how UT Austin is training the next generation of health providers
Jonathan Singer on why social workers should embrace technology
Jonathan Singer is the creator of the Social Work Podcast, which covers everything from direct practice to research, policy, and education. The podcast started in 2007 and today it gets about 60,000 unique monthly visitors. Singer (MSSW ‘96) is an associate professor at Loyola University Chicago, and a strong advocate for social workers to embrace technology and […]
Thinking upstream to end child maltreatment
A classic public health parable goes like this: a family is fishing downstream in a river, and suddenly a drowning person comes floating by. They pull the person out of the water, but then another drowning person comes by. As they are pulling that person out of the water, another comes by. The family then […]
Restoring Rundberg
A four-year, federally funded project has brought violent and property crime down in north Austin’s Rundberg neighborhood. The project, led by RGK Center Director David Springer, used innovative strategies like targeting crime “hot spots,” police walking beats to improve community-police relations, and community-based efforts to revitalize the neighborhood. School of Social Work faculty and students […]
Social Worker of the Year
The nonprofit Greater Austin Social Workers (GASW) selected clinical professor Sarah Swords as the 2016 Social Worker of the Year. Swords was chosen for her advocacy in geriatrics through her leadership of the GRACE program, her collaboration with the St. David’s Foundation to promote social work as a profession, and her dedication to educating new […]
When survivors turn into advocates
It is estimated that one in three women experience intimate-partner violence in their lifetime. Many women who survive feel called to work in agencies that advocate to end intimate-partner violence and provide service to victims. Researcher Leila Wood conducted in-depth interviews with advocate-survivors to understand how their past experiences of violence affect their advocacy work, […]
Research matters
Master’s student Lindsey Hollmann-Butz realized the importance of research when she found herself in a conference room with a number of executive directors from mental health agencies and representatives from the Texas government. They were all looking at reports that Hollman-Butz had helped prepare at the school’s Texas Institute for Excellence in Mental Health. The […]
How to increase breast cancer screenings
Patient navigators deployed as part of a state program have proved to be effective in increasing screening rates for breast and cervical cancer among women in rural areas in Texas. The state program combines cancer education through “pink parties” and contact with trained navigators who guide participants through a complex and often fragmented healthcare system, […]
