Small children having lunch

Community-Informed Practice for Health & Well-being

Will I get in? Minimum admission requirements

  1. Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) degree from an accredited/recognized institution with a minimum grade point average of 3.0 on a four-point scale. Your degree must be awarded prior to the start of the program. We cannot accept a letter of completion as a replacement for degree award. Your final transcript noting your degree must be received by June 30.
  2. The equivalent of two years of full-time paid work or a minimum of 3,000 hours of paid and/or volunteer work in the human services field by the application deadline.
  3. English Language Proficiency.

 
Offers of admission are valid for the term to which you apply.

Earned your BSW abroad?

If you completed an undergraduate degree in Social Work or equivalent in another country (outside Canada/USA), have your degree assessed by CASW for equivalency, prior to applying to the Graduate Certificate program.

Fall 2024 Topic

Community-Informed Practice for Health and Well-being

This certificate emphasizes conceptual and clinical skills to prevent illness and promote health and well-being. The courses emphasize micro, mezzo and macro-level interventions that are informed by feminist, critical, structural and postcolonial theories. 

You'll also learn advanced clinical practice in a variety of community settings that are defined by geography, membership or experience. Some of the community settings you'll study will include Indigenous, refugee, LGBTQ2+, disability and racialized communities, as well as post-disaster, and occupational and workplace communities. 

Social workers will develop skills and inform their practice working with a number of communities...

For example practice with Indigenous communities, the settlement sector, the LGBTQ2S+ community, and the disability community. The courses will also inform social workers involved in community and policy development.

Dr. Rick Enns, PhD

Researcher, Professor and Instructor for Community-Informed Practice

Courses


Theoretical and Philosophical Perspectives for Community-based Health and Wellness

An examination and critique of current and diagnostically-driven models of practice for health and well-being and consideration of alternative and community-based approaches informed by feminist, critical structural and postcolonial theories, as well transcultural and critical health and psychiatry perspectives.

Community-based Practice Models and Clinical Assessment for Community-based Health and Wellness

An examination of community-based health and wellness approaches including peer-support and recovery approaches, community-development approaches, social determinants of health and well-being, and social policy frameworks.

Community-based Health and Wellness Approaches I

Along with Community-based Health and Wellness Approaches II, this course will focus on requisite understandings and skills for community-based health and wellness in at least two diverse contexts including, but not limited to immigrant and refugee, post-disaster, Indigenous, LGBTQ2+, disability, and racialized communities or contexts.

Community-based Health and Wellness Approaches II

Along with Community-based Health and Wellness Approaches I, this course will focus on requisite understandings and skills for community-based health and wellness practice in at least two diverse contexts not covered in SOWK 614 and including but not limited to immigrant and refugee, post-disaster, Indigenous, LGBTQ2+, disability, and racialized communities or contexts. 

Residencies

An important part of your graduate certificate experience are the skill-building residencies, where you apply the knowledge and theory you've learned. For convenience, we offer certificates at a number of our Alberta campuses. Check your dates below. 

Fall 2024 Edmonton Residency Dates

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day
*
there are regularly scheduled online lectures weekday evenings in addition to residencies

  • Sept. 6 - 7, 2024 (On campus)
  • Nov. 22 - 23, 2024 (Virtual)
  • Jan. 24 - 25, 2025 (On campus)
  • March 21 - 22, 2025 (Virtual)

Laddering to an MSW