Boston University announced Tuesday that Sara “Sally” Bachman has been named the first director of BU’s Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health.
Bachman has been serving as the interim director of the CISWH since its creation in 2015. She is also a School of Public Health research professor of health law, policy and management as well as social research.
The mission of the CISWH is to expand the impact of social work in healthcare “to reduce costs, improve outcomes, improve patient experience, promote population health, and stimulate health equity nationally and globally,” according to its website.
Bachman wrote in an email that her goal is to combine her own research with that at CISWH in order to build upon the program.
“My goal is to build on my social work and public health research and practice experiences to significantly advance the impact of the CISWH,” Bachman wrote in an email.
Bachman wrote that some of her duties will include working with other social work and health students, alumni, policymakers and other members of academia on collecting evidence to show the importance of social work and health in public arenas.
She’s also recently become a Paul Farmer professor, and said she will use her knowledge and skill base in her new roles.
“Serving as the Director of the CISWH and the Paul Farmer Professor represents an ideal personal and professional challenge that will both allow me to leverage my skills and knowledge and continue to grow as a social work/public health leader,” Bachman wrote. “I could not be more excited and humbled by this amazing opportunity.”
Gail Steketee, a dean and professor in the School of Social Work, said Bachman’s background made her an ideal fit for director of CISWH.
“Her background and knowledge base in health care financing is an especially good fit for the Center and financing of health care is of course the major issue in the country at this time,” Steketee said.
Steketee said that since Bachman is a full-time professor in both the School of Public Health and the School of Social Work, she can combine both those skills as the director of CISWH.
“That makes her a natural fit for a center that is located on the medical campus just a block away from the School of Public Health and right next door to the Center for Global Health and Development which is part of the School of Public Health,” Steketee said.
The dual degree program in the two schools, which Steketee said is the “oldest and largest in the country” of its kind, will allow Bachman to work with students across the university.
“Straddling social work and public health is a natural fit for [Bachman’s] own work, it’s great for our dual degree program. So we expect that there will be a lot of dual degree students who have various roles and connections with the center during their careers with us,” Steketee said.
Several students said they see the value in having a program that combines social work and health, and think a person would need to be uniquely qualified to run it.
Lavanya Mittal, a sophomore in the College of Arts and Sciences and the Questrom School of Business, said she thinks a combination of the two fields is particularly crucial in today’s world.
“I think it’s extremely important, especially when it comes to public health because that’s a sector that can always use some help,” Mittal said. “I think it’s great to have an initiative about social service, especially like combining it with public health because now it’s really needed in the country.”
Emily Bernstein, a freshman in the College of General Studies said she thinks a leader of this program would need to have hands-on experience.
“The person in charge should have hands-on experience, and I feel as if knowing about this woman, like she has a lot of hands-on experience in the field,” Bernstein said. “By having hands-on experience, I think she probably has connections to help the people in the program like get jobs and like lead them in any direction they want to go with public health.”
Chenyu Liang, a first-year graduate student in the College of Communication, said Bachman’s appointment should also include an effort to improve outreach communications in this program.
“I think it’s quite important to engage more people to let them know what is happening,” Liang said. “So I think the channel is important, maybe social media, where most college students are on.”
