On February 2, 2016, I had the pleasure of going back to my social work Alma Mater, and I made an appearance on their radio show called “The Social Workers” which can also be found on Twitter at @SocialWorkersFM .
Hosted by Dr. Eric Hardiman and Alyssa Lotmore, The Social Workers highlight local and national happenings in social work. The Social Workers Radio Show was started about 5 years ago and the current hosts have been there for about two years.
Through social media, I have found that Social Workers can have a “voice” in many ways. This radio show is one of the more interesting ways to literally project our Voice out onto the airwaves. The co-hosts teach a course about being a “Media Savvy Social Worker”, where they learn basic interviewing skills and ways to engage with the public. This has such value and was great to be a part of this experience.
I got to talk with them about social media and various ways it is relevant to social work, mental health, healthcare, and suicide prevention. Below you can view our conversation. Also, I want to provide some of the links to the resources mentioned and some things that I wish I had included.
My Favorite blog post – The Language of Borderline Personality (My second favorite blog post is Virtual High Five and The Power of Social Media – got a high five via Twitter by Dr. David Jobes, suicide prevention leader)
How to Participate in Live Twitter Chat: Tips For Social Workers by Dr. Laurel Hitchcock
Here are some of the tweet chats I mentioned and their blogs
Suicide Prevention On Social Media (#spsm)
Macro Social Work (#macrosw)
Healthcare Leadership (#hcldr)
Healthcare Social Media (#hcsm) @HealthSocMed
In the end, they asked me what is the value of social media. I talked about some of the resources learned from professionals. What I failed to mention is connecting with people who receive mental health and health care services. Their tweets and blogs have been a large part of my professional development. If you venture on social media be prepared to learn from recipients and patient advocates who have a strong presence on social media.
Also, another wonderful place to hangout is the Social Work and Technology Group on Google plus. Articles, videos, and the latest evidence are shared on how social work can utilize technology and social media.
