Janet Ann Potts is a licensed clinical social worker in the state of Texas. She has a BSW from Texas State University and an MSW from Our Lady of the Lake University. She is currently a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Kentucky with a concentration on teaching. Janet has been practicing for 33 years and has extensive experience in medical and clinical social work, including owning a private practice. She has been employed with the Veterans Health Administration for the last eleven years, serving elderly veterans in the home-based primary care department. Additionally, she is a social work intern supervisor for multiple Texas universities and provides clinical supervision to candidates seeking their LCSW licensure. Janet is passionate about eradicating discrimination against those with larger bodies. As a result, her current research is on developing fat pedagogy for social work curriculum at the university level. She has both witnessed and experienced this form of discrimination and hopes to increase student awareness and effectiveness with this marginalized population. Janet’s long-term goal is to expand fat pedagogy into the medical community in the form of presentations for multi-disciplinary medical teams. As a lifelong learner, she has obtained certification in post-traumatic stress disorder with the military population from the University of Texas in Arlington. Furthermore, she is a guest lecturer at the University of Houston and a member of the Phi Alpha Honor Society. In her free time, Janet enjoys assisting in animal rescue in her local community.
DSW Showcase Student Presentation
Janet Potts
Doctoral Candidate, LCSW-S
Obesity discrimination: A critical gap in social work pedagogy at the university level
Concentration - Social Work Education
- Monday, April 28, 2025 -
- 4:00 pm
Abstract
Individuals with larger bodies are often marginalized in American society. Obesity discrimination is the fourth leading cause of discrimination, being prevalent in medical, employment, and education settings (Allnutt et al., 2022). This prejudice also negatively impacts interpersonal relationships. Currently, almost half of the U.S. population is categorized as obese (Wood et al., 2020). As a result, it is imperative that social work students be educated on the impact of this discrimination. Students must understand how to effectively work with those with obesity at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels (Sorensen & Krings, 2023). First, the presentation will provide a general overview of obesity discrimination in each of these areas. The use of the term fat versus the term obese will be explored. Second, it will discuss the systematic literature review that elucidates the gap in social work education at the university level about these injustices. The presentation will highlight how the utilization of social constructivism theory, in conjunction with a trauma-informed education classroom framework, will incorporate obesity discrimination education into social work courses. Lastly, the presentation will showcase a social work module on obesity discrimination that can be applied to social work courses.