A discussion of priorities 

In its report “Social Work and Primary Care: A Vision for the Path Forward [PDF],” published in September 2024, the CASW outlined recommendations to support initial outreach and advocacy.

Summit attendees were asked to provide feedback on the report based on the day’s presentations and talks. Below are points from that discussion. 

• Social workers need to be represented as leaders in national decision-making bodies on primary health care. They need to be at tables where decisions are being made.  

• Client ratios and caseloads based on capacity, community need, and complexity of care must be considered when defining social workers’ roles and impact.  

• Researchers need to gather data and evidence on social work as a profession as well as on its role in primary care, at both provincial and national levels to inform discussions and decisions on funding, staff training, and roles. 

• Social workers need to be able to clearly define themselves and articulate the competencies they bring to primary health care practice. A framework outlining social work roles in primary care would not only help guide those in the profession; it would also help demonstrate to others what social workers do and why their work matters.  

• Social workers need to be celebrated. We must recognize their successes and share their impact more broadly. 

• Social work education needs to include education in primary care and interprofessional training. We cannot keep siloing what we are teaching. 

• Understanding the pressures that social workers face is vital to ensuring the sustainability of the important work they do. Social workers need to be comfortable talking about pay equity. Research is needed to build knowledge of the attrition rate for social workers and factors that may push people out of the profession. 

Recommendations   

• A national Social Work Primary Care network be established to advance the shared points and priorities of the Summit. 
  
• Inclusion of social work on national decision-making bodies pertaining to the advancement of team-based primary care is needed.  
  
• A national Social Work Primary Care network would benefit from involvement of the CASW, Canadian Council of Social Work Regulators (CCSWR), the Canadian Association for Social Work Education (CASWE), and other social work associations and partners to support the next steps in advancing education, research, and caseloads.  

“We all serve the same patients. We serve the same population. The opportunity is now to band together with the other health care providers in primary care, because we’re stronger together. We need to be working collectively because no one health care professional can do it all in the primary care context.” 

— Ivy Oandasan, The College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC)