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Philadelphia
Conference Highlights:
We LOVEd our conference
surrounded by history!
NAPSWs 33rd national conference was located between the
Delaware River and the lovely historical walking district of Philly at the
Hyatt Regency. Conference co-chairs Deborah (Deb) Calvert and Judith (Judie)
McCoyd brought us together for a thoughtful, well-organized, and
rejuvenating conference. We enjoyed the Mural Arts Tour, the Liberty
Bell, National Constitution Center, Independence hall, the National Mint,
Betsy
Ross’s house and much, much more!
Wednesday evening’s cocktail reception for new and
returning members preceded the welcome banquet and NAPSW award ceremony. In
1988, NAPSW established its annual Award of excellence in Perinatal Social
Work to recognize outstanding achievement in the field of perinatal social
work from within membership of NAPSW. This year’s award went to
Anne-Marie Hallman, MSW, LCSW at Kaiser Permanente in Bellflower, CA.
Anne-Marie provides clinical social work services to children, youth,
adults, and families in NICU, High Risk OB/GYN, Maternal Child Health and
Pediatrics. It was an honor to acknowledge Anne-Marie’s dedication to
NAPSW thru her years of commitment as president, regional representative and
committee chair; her work as a perinatal social worker; her professional and
personal devotion; and her warmth and friendliness.
Our initial keynote speaker, Toba Kerson, PhD,DSW at Bryn
Mawr College recounted many aspects of the roots of social work and child
public health throughout history. Her “stories” of our foremothers
highlighted how our roots in public health, advocacy and maternal & infant
health lead to our present day perinatal social work.
Our Thursday workshops choices were plentiful. The keynote
speaker, JoAnne Fischer, MSW from the Maternity Care Coalition was inspiring
– including a quote by Gloria Steinem encouraging us all to empower our
selves, our communities and parents to do “one outrageous act that supports
women & children”. Their outreach endeavors via the MOM-mobile is both
colorful and an example of an enduring idea. The morning and afternoon
sessions included: improving pregnancy outcomes, beyond the bereaved,
multiple births, contract adoption work and preterm infants – developmental
outcomes (the future). Walter Tsou, MD, MPH, a truly inspiring
speaker representing physicians for a National Health Program, emphasized
the importance of becoming knowledgeable and involved in the health care
policy debate as it affects both our clients and us.
The day culminated with the annual evening out with a
Mural Arts Tour of Philadelphia. The mural arts program’s mission is to
engage the community in art collaborations and art education and to increase
public access to art. The tour highlighted both ethnically diverse
neighborhoods and the rich history of its residents. The murals were
colorful and truly amazing!
Friday began again with a continental breakfast and
exhibits from local agencies and providers – all very friendly and
knowledgeable. We were entertained by SCREAM, a peer education theatre
group at Rutgers University School of Social Work, and reminded of the
multi-faceted issue of intimate partner violence. Ruth Anne Koenick,
Ph.D reminded us all of the national guidelines for a “universal” approach
in screening for Intimate Partner Violence and providing information to all
patients.
Friday continued with sessions on establishing groups,
sibling grief, ethical issues in palliative care, post partum depression,
homelessness, infertility, and interdisciplinary teams. Midday we
enjoyed a luncheon during the NAPSW business meeting, where officers and
committee chairs reported on the year’s activites and future plans and goals
of the organization. Elections were held for the 6 new Board of
Directors positions, and several bylaws changes were approved.
Our closing breakfast on Saturday featured Joseph McBride,
MSW, LCSW, BCD from the University of Philadelphia. We were reminded that
too often we are “on both edges – the beginning and end of life” and our
roles as perinatal social workers are not as therapists but as crisis
counselors. Mr. McBride’s strategies to maintain perspective and his
personal recollections brought us both humor and insight.
In between sessions groups of participants enjoyed
networking and catching up on personal relationships. The
opportunities to socialize with other perinatal social workers is one of the
benefits of the annual conference, and always invigorates us and provides us
with new ideas for our own practices.
Overall comments about the quality and variety of the
sessions, location, and the services of the Hyiatt were highly positive.
Thanks Philadelphia for a great conference!
See you - all next year in Utah!
Lisa k Welborn, LCSW
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