In the News

Miscarriages are a common but dreadful experience that every expecting couple fears. When they occur, they do so suddenly, usually without warning. In their wake, it can be difficult to identify and handle the feelings that follow.

‘I arrived home from the hospital in May 2021 with my fourth son and sat down to nurse him, balancing pelvic ice packs with lower back heating pads, an adult diaper, one breast infected with mastitis and three other young sons eagerly bouncing around wanting to meet him. The baby finally settled in on my […]

Not so far away from the daily lives of most Americans is a growing crisis: the opioid epidemic. Government reports show that from April 2020 to April 2021, more than 100,000 people died from drug overdoses. These numbers don’t account for the people who have been lucky enough to survive, yet are still battling addictions […]

There are smiles and warm greetings as parents log on. One dad cracks a joke about grabbing a drink for anyone that wants one. The couples that know each other from previous sessions exchange compliments over new haircuts and tease someone about how long his beard is getting. A white dog jumps up to join […]

In 2020, the population of homeless people grew for the fourth year in a row, and a single night count in January of that year revealed 580,000 people were experiencing homelessness. But while the homelessness crisis is widely acknowledged, a problem that is less recognized is how (and why) LGBTQ+ youth are disproportionately represented among […]

Tens of thousands of Afghans have been scrambling to evacuate the country since the beginning of August, and U.S airlifts out of the main international airport in Kabul have been bottlenecked. Currently, about 28,000 Afghans have fled, and more than 17,000 are planning to resettle in the U.S through the Special Immigrant Visa Program, or […]

Find out what three professors and experts on leadership; communication; and, diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) say on how organizations and leaders can approach the challenging but important work of improving DEI.

Social workers – the largest group of behavioral health providers – can assist those in recovery from substance use who may be struggling during the pandemic, write Dr. Rebecca Gomez, an associate dean and faculty member at VCU, and her co-author. Social workers can validate the additional stress of clients, encourage them to utilize virtual […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has increased burnout among high-stress healthcare occupations, including social workers. An important part of the VCU School of Social Work’s curriculum is providing students “opportunities to learn about the practice of self-care during their coursework. They also get to see this modeled during their hands-on learning in the field,” says Dr. Rebecca […]

Dr. Basil Gooden of the VCU School of Social Work is part of an interdisciplinary team working to fight food insecurity, which is the lack of access to nutritious food that supports a healthy lifestyle. Poverty and housing insecurity are key causes of food insecurity, which affects between 10-11% of the U.S. population. “With lower-resource, […]