Developing Antiracist Social Work Practice at a Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Area of Science:

• Social Work
• Healthcare Equity
• Anti-Racism in Medicine

Background:

• Increased violence against minority groups and higher COVID-19 mortality rates among BIPOC and AAPI populations prompted a national response from social work professionals.
• A comprehensive cancer center's Social Work Department initiated efforts to develop and implement antiracist practices within their institution.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the process of creating educational initiatives for oncology social workers focused on identifying and dismantling bias and racism.
• To foster intentional antiracist practice and enhance advocacy for BIPOC and AAPI patients and colleagues within the healthcare system.

Main Methods:

• Established an antiracism committee and developed community guidelines for discussing race.
• Implemented a social location exercise to challenge white supremacy and created a multimedia forum to explore racial dynamics.
• Formulated a new departmental policy affirming a commitment to antiracist social work and initiated a monthly Antiracist Clinical Case Conference.

Main Results:

• Educational opportunities were created to help oncology social workers recognize personal and systemic biases.
• New policies and practices were implemented, including community guidelines and case conferences, to promote antiracist social work.
• A multimedia forum and case conferences were utilized to explore racial dynamics and highlight BIPOC and AAPI experiences.

Conclusions:

• The described strategies provide a framework for developing ongoing antiracist social work practice.
• Recommendations are offered for implementing and sustaining antiracist initiatives in diverse healthcare settings.
• The initiative aimed to embed antiracist principles into the core practice of oncology social work.