NSCSW Webinar: Exploring anti-fat bias in Child & Family Wellbeing

Learn about anti-fat bias, how it shows up in Child & Family Wellbeing, and ways to challenge weight stigma in child and family work.

This webinar explores anti-fat bias and weight stigma as it relates to child and family wellbeing social work practice. The webinar is part of a final scholarly product as part of a Master of Social Work program through Memorial University.

The webinar will be divided into three sections:

1. Examining anti-fat bias as a form of oppression (what is it, its roots in anti-Black racism,
2. the medicalization of body size, and consideration on how current political and public health discourses reinforce anti-fat bias),
3. implications for child welfare (examining how weight and body size can be used as indicators of risk, neglect, or progress, and the system’s alignment with medicalized understanding of health, etc), and practical considerations (offering strategies/resources on how to provide care through a weight neutral/fat liberation lens).

While the practice examples will be mostly focused on child welfare work, the content will be relevant to social workers working with children and families in a variety of settings, as well as social workers and helpers who are looking to deepen their understanding of anti-fat bias.

Objectives

• Knowledge: Learn, identify, and understand how anti-fat bias and weight stigma relates to and can negatively impacts social work practice; learn and understand the oppressive roots of anti-fat bias and weight stigma and how it relates to current political and systemic issues.
• Skills: Recognize the ways that anti-fat bias and weight stigma can contribute to oppression, particularly for equity-deserving service users and communities; apply anti-oppressive practices to social work and helping practices to challenge anti-fat bias and weight stigma.
• Values: Examine and shift beliefs, worldviews, and ideologies related to anti-fat bias and weight stigma in helping and social work practices.

Speaker

Suzanne Pothier, BSW, RSW (she/her) has over 15 years of experience working in Child and Family Wellbeing services in various roles. She graduated from Mount Saint Vincent University in 2008 with a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Child & Youth Studies, and from Dalhousie University in 2010 with a Bachelor of Social Work.

Suzanne is passionate about bringing a greater awareness of anti-fat bias as an intersectional social justice issue within social work. She is currently completing her MSW through Memorial University of Newfoundland and this webinar fulfills the final requirements of her degree.

Eligibility

NSCSW Members

All active, associate, retired associate, and student members of the Nova Scotia College of Social Workers are welcome to attend; our professional development programming is part of our member services funded by annual registration fees.

Community Partners

All allied health practitioners in Nova Scotia/Mi'kma'ki interested in learning more about this topic are eligible to sign up for a $5 partner ticket; just let us know which profession you are a part of when you register.

Foundations

This webinar relates to several sections of the NSCSW Code of Ethics & Standards of Practice:

Value 1: Respecting the Dignity and Worth of All People

• Guiding Principle 1.1: Social workers respect the inherent dignity and worth of all people
• Guiding Principle 1.3: Social workers uphold the human rights and fundamental freedoms of all people consistent with applicable rights and legislation.
• Guiding Principle 1.7: Social workers uphold the rights of all people to receive services in a manner that considers intersecting factors of exclusion and respects all manner of diversity.

Value 2: Promoting Social Justice

• Guiding Principle 2.1: Social workers uphold the principles of social justice related to the rights of individuals, families, groups, and communities to receive fair and equitable access to services, resources, and opportunities and to be free of oppression, racism, and discrimination.
• Guiding Principle 2.4: Social workers advocate for the rights of all individuals, families, groups, and communities to be free from oppression, exclusion, racism, and discrimination.

Value 4: Valuing Human Relationships

• Guiding Principle 4.1: Social workers place the well-being and interests of all people at the centre of their relationships.

Value 7: Providing Culturally Responsive Competent Professional Services

• Guiding Principle 7.1: Social workers are committed to the ongoing development of their professional abilities and knowledge, aiming to ensure the delivery of culturally responsive professional services.
• Guiding Principle 7.3: Social workers contribute to the ongoing development of the social work profession and current and future social workers.

Professional development tracking

For members of NSCSW, participating in this event is eligible to fulfill the annual requirement for professional development related to anti-racist and anti-discriminatory practice. Members who have already completed that requirement for the year may instead categorize this session as formal professional development.

Visit nscsw.org/pd for more information about the updated professional development requirements for Nova Scotia social workers.

Questions?

If you have questions about our professional development program content, please contact the College's Professional Development Consultant, Tyler Colbourne, at tyler.colbourne@nscsw.org.