I’m writing my first message as your AOSW President in early January, when the leafless winter landscape facilitates an open view. The clarity has inspired me to ponder how AOSW’s foundation feeds our strategic priorities. There are many people engaged in this work, and I want you to envision yourself as a member of this team.
 

My AOSW mentors and colleagues have been a significant part of my growth as a leader. I owe a special thanks to our recent Past-President Penny Damaskos and new Past-President Alison Sachs for including me in leadership decisions in 2016. The progression of shared authority prepared me to hit the ground running as President on January 1. I’m thrilled to have Tara Schapmire at my side as our new President-Elect. Tara and I have a strong combination of direct practice and research skills and connections. The diversity of ideas and connections from our Board members sustain AOSW’s growth.

AOSW’s Board terms are staggered to balance experienced leadership with fresh perspectives. The new year brings a rotation of Board members. We appreciate the work of Christina Bach in Education and Larmender Davis as Director at Large, whose terms concluded December 31, 2016. Our new Education Director Chelsea Kroll is an experienced AOSW conference chair. Chelsea is already closely working with our 2017 Annual Meeting (Denver) Committee and is working on the 2018 conference (Atlanta) as well. Jane Dabney’s long service as a SIG leader prepared her to expand the Director at Large position. Jane is focused on our SIGS as grassroots incubators for professional development and recruitment of AOSW leadership. Our Board team rounds out with Eucharia Borden as Membership Director, Sage Bolte as Director at Large with primary responsibility for our State Representatives, Sarah Conning as Advocacy Director, Andrea Karoff as Communications Director, Bill McDermott as Treasurer, Krista Nelson as Director of Development and Strategic Partnerships, Julie Oktay as Research Director and Alison Sachs as Past-President.

Our professional management team at Kellen is a vital part of consistent responsiveness to our members and connections with both patient/family and industry partners. The expertise of our Kellen support team keeps our organizational plan, our communications infrastructure and our conference highly organized. Member Services Manager, Jordan Burghardt, is the “front door” to AOSW for members and the public with general questions. Executive Director Emily Burchs’ daily oversight ensures that the volunteer efforts of our members remain cohesive and driven toward our strategic plan. Kellen also provides an efficient sharing of staff expertise with other organizations for activities like communications, CEU approval and vendor support for conference.

I’ll use my quarterly President’s Message to remind you of our strategic goals and update you on a few of the current activities that are serving our mission. Volunteer time is a precious commodity for our members. It is important that the time I, and I hope you, give to AOSW leads to patient care improvements and personal growth that will be rewarding in our 2017 year-end review.

I want you to know our strategic priorities, understand how our goals and activities help us achieve collective and individual professional goals, and retain or engage your active participation in AOSW. It is my intent that AOSW’s organizational structure is fully transparent and welcoming to our members. I encourage you to review our organizational information and strategic plan. Although a strategic plan isn’t your usual leisure reading, I want you to be confident that your membership dues and your investment of volunteer time and monetary donations are fruitful.

Goals

Organizational Development

AOSW will exemplify excellence in leadership, governance and knowledge.

• Our Advocacy Committee, headed by Sarah Conning, monitors announcements of legislative action that will impact oncology care and makes recommendations to the AOSW Board. With a new President and congressional term, AOSW is particularly attentive to legislation that may impact access to oncology care. We are also mindful of social work’s call to champion human dignity for all citizens.
   
• AOSW is committed to recruiting and mentoring a membership base that reflects the diversity of our patients. The Membership Committee, under the direction of Eucharia Borden, recently completed a survey of AOSW members. This work helped us identify our current membership base and our goals for development.

  We greatly appreciate the input of the 390 members who participated in the survey (more than 30 percent) of AOSW membership. Our aggregate data helps AOSW demonstrate our education, experience and impact on patient care and financially sound practice to our interdisciplinary colleagues and potential industry partners.
   

• Watch your eblasts and SWON announcements for AOSW’s Online Learning webinar series. Webinars give us an opportunity to respond to emerging knowledge needs throughout the year. The Education Committee, under Chelsea Kroll’s leadership, reviews abstracts and selects topics that respond to commonly expressed needs. Education Committee members include Lisa Barnes, Kim Day, Eileen Joyce, Maria Lozano-Vasquez and Andrea Strouth.

Our topics for 2017 reflect a breadth of clinical expertise and timely access to care updates. Webinar titles and presenters include:

• “When Death Comes Knocking at the Door: Honoring End-of-Life Work in a Social Work Field Placement” (Maria Chi and Glenn Meuche),
• “Barriers to Adequate Cancer Treatment for Patients with Concurrent Mental Health Disorders” (Maryrose Mongelli),
• “Surviving in the Trenches” (Vickie Leff),
• “Affordable Care Act Updates” (Heather Klusaritz), and
• “I’m so Tired: Evidence-Based Behavioral Interventions for Cancer-Related Fatigue” (Patrice Al-Shatti).

Professional Development

AOSW will be THE catalyst for the advancement of oncology social work.

New Education Director Chelsea Kroll’s article in this edition of AOSW Navigator provides details of our 2017 schedule for professional development. This non-CEU series will help you keep your general job skills current and marketable.

The Research SIG has been revitalized. If you have interest in oncology social work research, either as a direct practitioner seeking to improve your practice or as a full-time researcher looking for partnerships with practice settings, you are encouraged to select “Research” as one of the SIGs in your membership profile. This will connect you with the new Research Community and SIG leader Elizabeth Rohan.

Connectivity

AOSW connects people, organizations and information for the promotion of psychosocial care in oncology.

• SWON (Social Work Oncology Network) is the grassroots of many of AOSW’s organizational conversations. Our Board relies on SWON to help us follow industry trends and membership concerns. SWON currently hosts more than 1,200 member users. In even the largest institution, none of us has that many colleagues who are available to answer our patient care questions, provide support when our work is challenging or sad, celebrate our joys and help us articulate our research questions. SWON is an active and efficient listserv moderated by Bryan Miller and Tracy Borgmeyer.
   
• 2017 AOSW 33rd Annual Conference. Click here for an update from our 2017 Annual Conference Chair, Meredith Cammerata. Make sure you have your budget and leave request in for May 31 – June 2, 2017. I will see you in Denver!

AOSW has been the cornerstone of how I care for my patients and my career path. I am so grateful to have this opportunity as your President to showcase what oncology social workers do. If you have questions about AOSW’s goals or strategic plans, or if you are looking for your opportunity to contribute to this work, you can contact me at president@aosw.org.

Take care,

Catherine