Website dedicated to the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative

The NASW now has a website dedicated to the Social Work Reinvestment Initiative. The site features reinvestment goals, a blog, and state and federal action.

Social support can be a lifeline during health crisis

Ken Gehle first noticed something was wrong about a year ago: He'd sit down to dinner and the first bite of food seemed to get stuck in his throat.

The social networking site CaringBridge helped cancer survivor Ken Gehle stay positive during treatment.

"As soon as I would swallow or take a big swig of liquid and swallow, I'd be fine," explained Gehle.

A few months later he started hiccuping at mealtimes. When antacids didn't bring relief, his doctor decided to take a closer look.

"They scoped me, did a biopsy and there it was," said Gehle. At age 45, the father of two learned he had esophageal cancer. He had surgery to remove a tumor and began chemotherapy and radiation.

While Gehle was getting medical attention, he felt the need for emotional support as well, plus he wanted a way to communicate with his large extended family. So he and his wife, Tamara, got on the Internet and signed up for an online community called CaringBridge. Read more...

Women's Health Care Disparity

Putting Women's Health Care Disparities On The Map: Examining Racial and Ethnic Disparities at the State Level

This Kaiser Family Foundation report documents the persistence of disparities between white women and women of color across the country. It provides a rare and comprehensive state-level look at disparities among women of different races and ethnicities on a broad range of indicators of health and well-being, including rates of diseases such as diabetes, heart disease, AIDS and cancer, and access to health insurance and health screenings.

Housing Discrimination

From beSpacific: "A record 10,552 fair housing discrimination complaints were filed in fiscal year 2008, according to a report just released by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The State Of Fair Housing FY 2008, Annual Report On Fair Housing, which is produced for Congress each year, shows that a large portion of the complaints, 44 percent, were filed by persons with disabilities. Thirty-five percent, or 3,699, of the complaints alleged discrimination based on race."

The Tiananmen Legacy

Human Rights Watch today releases "The Tiananmen Legacy," an assessment of the continuing impact of Tiananmen and a multimedia feature on the crackdown's 20th anniversary, which can be accessed at http://www.hrw.org/en/node/83112.