Webinar: Social Service Workers in Health Facilities: Their role in addressing social determinants of health among children and families

Social and other determinants of health—such as income, education, food and housing—have a substantial influence on individual health outcomes as well as health inequities within and between countries. In fact, countries with greater total investment in health and social care spending compared to health spending alone have seen more positive health outcomes. 

This webinar—taking which took place during Social Service Workforce Week 2022— examined how a well-developed and qualified social service workforce working in and linked to health facilities can help countries to tackle social and other determinants of health. Using findings from an Alliance-developed technical paper on this exact topic we explored the different roles, functions and practice models for deploying the social service workforce in health facilities and the related influence on health outcomes and costs. Country-level speakers joined us to discuss promising practice models for effective deployment of social service workers in health facilities and the challenges and opportunities that come with them. 

Speakers:

• Han Kang, Director, Office of HIV/AIDS, Bureau for Global Health, USAID
• Alex Collins, Global Social Service Workforce Alliance Consultant and Senior Technical Advisor, Child Protection, Palladium
• Venera Urbaeva, Global Social Service Workforce Alliance Consultant
• Richard Savo, Former Deputy Chief of Party for Pathways Orphans and Vulnerable Children Project, Catholic Relief Services Zimbabwe
• Dr. Bernadette Madrid, Director of the Child Protection Unit (CPU) of the University of the Philippines Manila – Philippine General Hospital

The associated slide deck for the webinar can be found, here.