The
Future
of Social
Work
Innovation in Action
The Social Work profession applies rigorous research, critical theories, and scientific methods in order to advance social change, drive innovation, and yield sound and effective practice. At NYU Silver, students learn about evidence-based practices and research-informed interventions and are trained in quantitative and qualitative modes of inquiry. NYU Silver faculty and students are engaged in dozens of studies, including researching family interventions to reduce teen risk behavior, evaluating services for adults with co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, identifying modifiable determinants of child neglect, testing real-world implementation of patient-centered care, and many more. We are constantly developing new knowledge that will benefit individuals, families, and communities, and solve significant social problems. NYU Silver is harnessing science for public impact.
Bridging the Research-Practice Gap
NYU Silver is the home of Information for Practice (ifp.nyu.edu), which provides the latest news and scholarship with implications for evidence-based practice.
Data Drives Deeper Impact
The Constance and Martin Silver Center on Data Science and Social Equity was established at NYU Silver in June 2021 to harness the emerging power of big data to identify the root causes of society’s most pressing challenges and achieve broad and transformational social impact. The center, which aligns with the Grand Challenges for Social Work challenge to Harness Technology for Social Good, helps to develop and nurture the scientific skill set of NYU Silver faculty, doctoral students, and researchers and supports scholarship and early development of innovations in the field of data science for social equity.
We are intervention designers, coming together to produce knowledge and evidence that can be translated into direct practice
NYU Silver Faculty on the Grand Challenges for Social Work
We have the power to end homelessness. To eliminate social isolation. To advance long and productive lives. This nationwide Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative, powered by science, is a call to action for researchers and practitioners to collaborate in tackling some of our toughest social problems. NYU Silver faculty lead three of the 13 challenges and the School has helped to sustain this groundbreaking initiative.
Preventative social work is the new frontier
The Silver School Faculty Is Examining Society’s Pressing Problems
Using ‘Big Data’ to Identify ‘Hotspots of Need’
With a grant from the Constance and Martin Silver Center on Data Science and Social Equity, a team led by Professor Michelle R. Munson is using a large integrated mental health and Medicaid claims database to identify ‘hotspot’ communities of need, where there are high rates of young adults with serious mental illness and low levels of utilization of professional services. Explained Dr. Munson, “Our project will use both statistical and machine learning methods to identify ‘drivers’ of mental health care. Findings will inform future research to reduce social inequities among some of New York’s most disadvantaged citizens.”
A Silver PhD Candidate is Using Scientific Research Methods to Address Cognitive Inequities Affecting His Community
A member of Curve Lake First Nation, PhD candidate Cliff Whetung was spurred to study inequities in cognitive health among indigenous older adults by changes he saw in his own grandparents. Now, with a two-year, $127,735 grant from the National Institute on Aging, he is testing the relationship between lifespan stress exposures (e.g. poverty, interpersonal discrimination) and cognition with Native American and Alaska Native older adults using restricted data from a national dataset. He aims to shed light on the cognitive health profiles of these indigenous older adults to promote their equitable inclusion in future cognitive health research, policy, and interventions.
