By Amy Colver, MSSA, MA, LCSW

Welcome to the last issue of AOSW Connections in 2023! It’s been a great year for the newsletter and we’re excited for what’s to come in 2024!

I want to thank the newsletter crew, the staff and leadership of AOSW, members and writers for your contributions and support of AOSW Connections. I’m incredibly grateful and hope you all have found and will continue to find the newsletter to be what our team hopes and strives for – a place for connection, inspiration, support and professional development. A place for people to share their voice and highlight the amazing work that is being done within the field as well as within AOSW.

As we enter each holiday season and prepare for another year to come to a close, the opportunities for reflection as well as looking towards the future come to light, at least they do for me. This is exactly what the writers did in this issue, which has the theme of Evolving Oncology Social Work Practice. We asked writers to reflect on their careers and/or how their practice has evolved over the last few years. We also offered the opportunity to share their thoughts on where they think our field may be going in the future. I’m so proud to share this issue with you.

We have a humble message from AOSW President Leora Lowenthal about what she has learned during her time serving in this role. She outlines key “takeaways” I’m sure we all can relate to! We also have an article from our very own Communications Director, Jeanice Hansen, who eloquently reflects on her career while weaving in some personal touches and sharing what she has learned through being an oncology social worker. Similarly, Sean Powell reflects on his career and the evolution of our profession while touching on the OSW-C credential. He also shares the ways that the OSW-C has supported and encouraged him throughout his career.

Carissa Hodgson reflects on how her practice has changed since the onset of the pandemic. She provides an inspiring overview of how she took the challenges from the pandemic and turned them into opportunities and provides tips for you to do the same! Katherine Easton also reflects on a specific event in her professional life and writes about violence against healthcare professionals. She examines this important issue in an in-depth manner and discusses contributing factors as well as interventions. Jennifer Bires focuses on a specific intervention of psychedelics in end-of-life care. She shares the history and research around psychedelics and encourages us to think more broadly about this intervention.

To focus a bit more on news within AOSW, we have an article from the new Hispanic/Latine SIG leaders, Carmen Hilton and Rachel Allende. Carmen and Rachel share how the idea for the SIG evolved into a group as well as their hopes for it in the future. Kelly Hendershot and Kerry Irish share exciting information about next year’s conference with the theme of “Harnessing the Past for Growth in the Future.” They provide an overview of the amazing work that is already being done to make sure next year’s conference is another memorable one!

We also have a short article about Giving Tuesday and hope you’ll consider supporting AOSW this season.

In other AOSW news, we want to encourage you to follow AOSW’s relatively new Instagram ‎account – you can follow it @assocofosw. Also, if you’re not following AOSW on Facebook yet, ‎please consider doing so. There’s a lot of good information on our social media channels! ‎Additionally, don’t forget to check out the biweekly OSW Newsbrief emails. They are filled with ‎valuable information about AOSW and articles relevant to our profession. Lastly, if you have any ‎questions or a specific issue with the current AOSW website, please contact info@aosw.org for ‎assistance. Please be as specific as possible with your question or issue when you reach out. ‎

Thank you again for all of your support of AOSW Connections. I hope you have a peaceful and restful holiday season. We look forward to connecting with you in the new year!