SOCIAL WORK WEEK 2012

Theme

The theme of the upcoming 2012 Social Work Week is: “Social Workers Help People Get Back on Track”.  This theme was selected to highlight the significant role that social workers play in helping people deal with day-to-day problems and overcome barriers that prevent them from leading meaningful and productive lives. Social workers help people of all ages and socio-economic backgrounds to create better lives for themselves and their families. 

Social workers offer hope, grounded in practical problem-solving expertise.  Recognizing that people are experts about their own lives, social workers help people find solutions that are tailored to meet their unique needs and concerns.  In fact, our profession believes in the boundless human potential for people to make positive change in their lives.

Unlike other professions, social workers work with the individual within their environment.  They focus on people’s strengths and take into account the social, emotional and economic factors that can negatively impact health and social well-being.  Social workers also advocate for change to improve social conditions that restrict access to equitable services and limit opportunities for people to achieve their goals. 

Few professions match social work for the wide variety of settings in which they work and the range of services they provide.  Social workers work as front-line practitioners, clinicians, managers, supervisors and administrators.  They are also therapists, educators and researchers.  They work at all levels of government and some hold political office.      

Social Work Week provides an opportunity each year for social workers to promote and celebrate their profession and the life-changing work that they do in every community. 

As social workers in Ontario prepare for the upcoming 2012 Social Work Week, OASW encourages you to:

• reflect on the ways you and/or your agency/organization make a difference in the lives of the client populations you serve
• identify ways to tell this story, and
• let others know that when client groups need help – “Social Workers Help People Get Back on Track”. 

Social workers have the right education, experience and dedication to help people help themselves when they most need it! 

Social Workers Help People Get Back on Track.