Social work Chair Vicky Rizzo inducted as fellow in National Academies of Practice
Binghamton University Social Work Chair and Associate Professor Vicky Rizzo was inducted as a Distinguished Scholar and Fellow by the National Academies of Practice (NAP) during the NAP 2017 Annual Meeting & Forum last month in Philadelphia.
Established in 1981, NAP is a nonprofit organization representing 14 healthcare professions that advise healthcare policy makers in the federal government. Membership in the NAP is extended to practitioners who have excelled in their profession and are dedicated to furthering practice, scholarship and policy in support of interprofessional care.
“I am honored to be a member of the National Academies of Practice, and advance interprofessional healthcare by fostering collaboration among social workers and other practitioners, as well as advocate for policies in the best interest of individuals and communities,” she said.
Rizzo, a gerontologist, conducts research on how to develop and implement health and social services for aging populations and people with chronic illnesses. She incorporates interprofessional care into her scholarship, teaching and practice, including through implementing interprofessional educational experiences for the University’s Master of Social Work (MSW) students and field practitioners through the Department’s Continuing Education (CE) courses in social work.
Decker School of Nursing Assistant Professor Judith Quaranta ’79, MS ’98, PhD ’13, and Director of Graduate Programs Nicole Rouhana, MS ’95, PhD ’11, were also inducted as NAP fellows this year.
“I’m honored to be included in such a distinguished and influential group of healthcare professionals,” said Rizzo, who is a founding member of Binghamton’s Interprofessional Education Curriculum and Assessment Committee, composed of members from social work, nursing and pharmacy. The group has developed curricula and clinical experiences that will provide opportunities for graduate students from these three disciplines to learn with and about each other. The IPE courses begin in the fall.
“Social workers play an important role in patient advocacy, and there is an increased demand for health care social workers. We are skilled facilitators, mediators and negotiators, which are necessary when working with other professionals and patients in healthcare settings,” Rizzo said. “The physician is ultimately responsible for the patient’s care, but good doctors will rely on the input of an interprofessional team to make sound clinical decisions.”