The Essential Nature of Social Work in Cancer Control

The conditions in which people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age affect a range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes, and contribute to social needs across the cancer control continuum. To address these needs, advance the quality of cancer care, and achieve health equity, cancer care clinicians must possess comprehensive knowledge and skills to mitigate the effects of social determinants of health on patient outcomes. This knowledge should also encompass an understanding of how racism, sexism, and discrimination - along with exposures to trauma - also influence patient behaviors and outcomes, given evidence of their effects on population health. For over 100 years, social workers have comprised an essential workforce that is duly educated and trained to identify social needs and improve patient outcomes within the context of health care service delivery, and cancer care in particular. Oriented to an ecological framework, social workers are adept at identifying and mitigating the negative effects of the social determinants of health on individual knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors, with the intent of improving results for people at risk for or diagnosed with cancer. Social workers are professionally trained for organizing communities, understanding and intervening upon social systems (including families, organizations, and institutions), providing emotional support and mental health counseling, and advocating for programs and policies that best serve patients, families, and communities. Thus, social workers play a critical role in service delivery across the cancer control continuum.