By Rebekah Brossman
Contributing Writer

The social work department will be holding its 10th Annual Conference on Social Work in the Global Environment on Nov. 5 from 8 a.m.-4 p.m. This will be a virtual event.

The conference is intended to contribute to the local-global perspectives in social work utilizing the strategy of “Thinking Globally and Acting Locally.” It aims to bring together both faculty and students who are interested in global and international social and economic justice and human rights issues.

The theme of this year’s conference is Social Work in the Covid Environment: Long-term Impacts and Global-Local Challenges for Vulnerable Populations. 

Mental health is one area that COVID-19 has impacted in the world. Social workers in mental health make up the nation’s largest group of mental health service providers; there are over 200,000 (NASW, 2021). 

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (2021), employment of mental health and substance abuse social workers is expected to grow 17 percent from 2019 to 2029.

The conference will include panel discussions and presentations from invited speakers. Presentation topics may include past pandemics and the evolution of health policies, vaccine distribution inequities, systemic violence amidst the COVID-19 disaster, the impact of COVID-19 on private service providers and the role of social workers during the outbreak of pandemics.

Registration is open at the following link: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/KUGlobal2021