On Vision

“Vision without action is a daydream. Action without vision is a nightmare.”
 – Japanese proverb

What an amazing year I’ve had as your president! 2018 has been a very busy year for our wonderful Board of Directors. One of a board’s most important functions is vision, which is imagining the future for the organization. For your board, that vision comes alive in the form of our strategic plan. We spent this entire year focusing all our efforts on our Strategic Plan with goals to see us into 2019.

Three overarching goals guided our work:

1. Organizational Development.  AOSW will exemplify excellence in leadership, governance and knowledge.
2. Professional Development.  AOSW will be THE catalyst for the advancement of oncology social work.
3. Connectivity.  AOSW connects people, organizations and information for the promotion of psychosocial care in oncology.

During this past year, the board and its hard-working volunteer committees:

• Hosted the 2018 AOSW 34th Annual Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, with more than 500 attendees. (Professional Development)
• Created a new collaboration with the Biden Cancer Initiative (BCI), which came out of us giving Vice President Joe Biden our AOSW/ACS Quality of Life Award at this year’s conference in Atlanta. (Connectivity)
• Developed AOSW Fellows and introduced the inaugural 2018 cohort. (Organizational Development AND Connectivity)
• Maintained the AOSW Action Network Blog for policy updates, perspectives and advocacy stories from AOSW members. (Organizational Development AND Professional Development)
• Hosted the inaugural AOSW/APOS Joint One-Day Meeting in New York; this was such a great success we will do it again next year. (Connectivity AND Professional Development)
• Continued providing innovative online educational opportunities, including professional development opportunities through the AOSW Career Center, for job seekers and employers; along with the Professional Development & Leadership Webinar Series. (Professional Development AND Organizational Development)
• Expanded existing member benefits with a SIG-specific Member Resources page and an Advanced Search Member Directory. (Organizational Development AND Connectivity)
• Published AOSW Navigator and OSW NewsBrief e-newsletters. (Professional Development)
• Hosted the SWON listserv, AOSW's premier communication forum with moderated discussions. (Professional Development AND Connectivity)

What great fun and a huge honor it was to work with the board, our management staff and other organizations on these accomplishments. Ultimately, for me, the overarching motivators were connectivity and connection.

On Connection

“I define connection as the energy that exists between people when they feel seen, heard, and valued; when they can give and receive without judgment; and when they derive sustenance and strength from the relationship.” 

― Brené Brown

I am inspired by how AOSW’s leaders focused efforts on “connectivity,” the ability to connect, and not just the connection itself. Our leaders recognized the work entailed in actually creating the connections. This work required thought and a focus on strategy, and looking to connect with organizations that share our strategic priorities and our AOSW mission. Those efforts paid off in many successful connections where AOSW, as social worker Brené Brown says, derived “sustenance and strength from the relationship.” We have already benefited from re-engaging our inspiring past leaders through the AOSW Fellows. Moreover, our connections with APOS and BCI have resulted in many successful ventures as well as heightened awareness of oncology social work in the world of cancer care.

The bulk of my academic work focuses on research and teaching around interprofessional, collaborative oncology and palliative care. My everyday academic work focuses on getting educators and students out of their learning silos and into shared, collaborative space. These spaces are where the best learning can happen, where future health care practitioners in oncology and palliative care graduate and go into practice with shared knowledge and values in the areas of interprofessional teamwork, communication, values and ethics, and with a heightened appreciation for collaborative roles and responsibilities. I believe the future growth and elevation of oncology social work lies in collaboration and connection at the micro, mezzo and macro levels. How do we make that happen? What does that collaboration and connection look like in our practice settings and on our board?

Collaboration and Connection

I believe we start with the integration of all parts of AOSW’s mission into everything we do as practitioners, leaders, educators, researchers and board members.

AOSW Mission
To advance excellence in the psychosocial care of persons with cancer, their families and caregives through:

On Integration

To integrate all of AOSW’s values, we must accept responsibility for all of them. We must decide they are equally important and that we each have responsibility for the success and development of all.

From our daily work to the things we do on the Board, we must consider each of these values equally and make every attempt to contribute to each one of them. I have seen increasing evidence that our board leaders are stepping out of the traditional silos created by their elected positions and into those same shared, connected and collaborative spaces. In one example, our research director and education director have committed to working together to integrate the best of research and practice at our future conferences. This is truly exciting. And it is the ONLY way to elevate the science and practice of oncology social work.

So, as I step out of my role as your president and into my role as your past president, I join the ranks of many past leaders who hoped they left AOSW a little better off for having been around. I join the ranks of those grateful for the time they had in this wonderful organization and I look to the future filled with hope and promise in the good hands of those who come to lead behind me. I am excited for Eucharia Borden’s presidency and I know she will bring new energy and motivate us in ways we may not have thought about before. For my part, I’ll be around to support her and I’ll be working with our beloved Past President and Fellow Catherine Credeur and others on my yet-to-be-formed Nominations Committee for the 2019 elections. And I will be looking for those also interested in creating the best possible future for AOSW through Vision, Connection and Integration!