In this session, two graduates of the KU Doctor of Social Work program will share insights from their DSW Capstone Projects.

Both projects centered community in the design and implementation of interventions to facilitate access to needed health services.

Dr. Rebecca Beeler, DSW 2025, will present her guide to coalition building to increase health literacy among Medicare beneficiaries, lessons learned from engagement with community coalition partners, and tips for social workers seeking to use coalition approaches to advance their own health system goals.

Dr. DeMarreo Tidwell, DSW 2025, will discuss his community engagement toolkit for overcoming barriers for Black families needing mental health services—a macro-level intervention designed to shift attitudes, advance understanding, amplify strengths, and increase system capacity.

In concert, these recent DSWs’ work illustrates the contributions of DSWs as scholarly practitioners and the powerful ways their efforts are positively impacting the practice landscape. Inspired by both their own practice experiences and their doctoral education, these social work leaders constructed tangible tools to address identified problems of practice, and they will disseminate these resources to support other practitioners’ efforts, inspire efforts in parallel domains, and help social workers face challenges in and through community engagement.

• CEU: 1.5
• Speakers:
  • Rebecca Beeler, KU DSW 2025; Vice President of Care Coordination and Post Acute Care, Freeman Hospital
  • DeMarreo Tidwell, KU DSW 2025; Mental Health Manager, Our House Shelter