Teaching Note: Exposing BSW Students to Warning Signs, Inaccuracies, and Treatment Options for Schizophrenia

Each year, nearly 100,000 people in the United States are newly diagnosed with schizophrenia. It is estimated that 2.5 million people in the United States have a schizophrenia spectrum disorder. In social work education, there is an absence of exposure and training in Bachelor of Social Work programs about working with individuals with schizophrenia. Social work students, regardless of professional goals, will benefit from foundational knowledge about schizophrenia, given social workers’ large presence and scope of practice. This teaching note describes a 15-minute teaching tool created by the author using the acronym WIT (i.e. warning signs, inaccuracies, and treatment) to improve students’ identification of the illness and avoidance of working with this population implemented with 44 Bachelor of Social Work students at a northeastern school of social work. Student feedback was solicited to improve pedagogical practices and implications for clinical educators for this topic.