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In 1905, Massachusetts General Hospital initiated the first medical social work program in the United States. Based on the writings of its leaders, this paper presents the early history of medical social work in the United States. Inspired by developments in European health care that emphasized the community context of disease, medical social work pioneers saw a need to individualize the patient while also promoting public health measures in the community, improving the patient's environment to eliminate the causes of disease. In addition, since they served patients because of their diseases rather than their poverty, medical social workers were among the first to provide social work services to the non-poor. In spite of their emphasis on environmental change, many of early medical social work leaders had an anti-institutional bias; they were suspicious of large-scale solutions for what they saw as fundamentally individual problems. Consequently, methods for promoting individual adaptation developed more rapidly than methods for promoting environmental change. Ironically, the medicalization of social problems in contemporary times has resulted in a focus on individual pathology rather than social and lifestyle causation in health, even as the rising cost and complexity of the system challenges health care consumers in the United States. Reaffirming the environmental emphasis of medical social work pioneers provides a way for today's health care social workers to incorporate environmental modification into their practice and promote the health of all citizens. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Health and health care delivery continue as dominant domestic issues in the United States. Health also represents a highly sophisticated social work practice area, requiring specific expertise for intervention with complex biopsychosocial patient care issues. Current social work curriculum content must reflect contemporary practice issues and educational resources must be improved to meet the documented need for adequately prepared health care professionals. This paper proposes a curriculum template for practice education and offers additional recommendations to enhance the educational process through increased field and academic collaboration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food security and health are complex interrelated issues. Individual characteristics exist within the physical and built environments. Title IV of the Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 is analyzed in terms of how it addresses systemic food insecurity and the opportunities the policy has for improving public health by increasing support for the availability of affordable local produce to low-income households. Structural changes need to occur for programs to be equitable, efficient, and effective. Interdisciplinary leadership within government agencies, school systems, social service agencies, health care agencies, and nonprofit networks is necessary to ensure food security and health for all Americans. Social work and public health practitioners have the opportunity to change the status quo, encourage community-level interventions, advocate for producers and consumers, and encourage more equitable distribution of food to create a healthier low-income population. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Latinos are the largest minority group in the U.S. For Latino immigrants, a shift in migration from larger to smaller cities has recently occurred; the Latino immigrant population in Charlotte, North Carolina, has increased by 634% since 1990. The extent to which immigrants can achieve health and well-being is often related to employment, healthcare access, and social support. This study explored the human, social, and financial capital circumstances of Latino immigrants new to Charlotte and examined the effects of different aspects of capital on health outcomes. Findings indicate that capital is significantly associated with functional status and depression. Implications for social work are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]