SP2 dean and professor to serve on Council on Social Work Education committee, task force

The dean of Penn’s School of Social Policy and Practice and an associate professor will serve on a national committee and task force to develop competencies and curricular resources on health for the Council on Social Work Education.

CSWE, a national association representing social work education in the United States, is working to create a health curricular guide and increase health expertise in schools of social work. Sara Bachman will serve on the guide’s steering committee and chair the committee on Policy Competencies, while associate professor and faculty director of the social work in healthcare specialization Allison Werner-Lin will serve as a task force member, SP2 News reported. 

The roles will largely be to enhance the curriculum for graduate social work students and to help other colleagues become engaged with social work health. 

“Many social workers practice in health settings,” Bachman told SP2 News. “I am honored to be a part of this national effort to develop and disseminate resources to promote excellence in health policy practice and other social work competency areas. 

Bachman’s research interests include health and social policy, social work leadership and education, and health equity. Before coming to Penn, she served as the inaugural director of Boston University’s Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health, which aims to work with cross-sector collaboration to promote social work and social justice in health-related fields. 

Werner-Lin will work on the Advance Human Rights and Social, Economic, and Environmental Justice competency. She was recently honored by the CSWE’s Council on the Role and Status of Women in Social Work Education for outstanding mentorship. 

“This critical work is informed by the fundamental belief that all individuals have a basic right to health, healthcare, and wellbeing,” Werner-Lin told SP2 News.