Reclaiming Information and Communication Technologies for Empowering Social Work Practice

The use of information and communication technologies has greatly expanded and has far-reaching implications for social work practice. Following an international review of the literature, this study explored how social workers consider the issues associated with integration of e-therapy into their social work practice. A survey of Israeli social workers revealed that only 4 percent have actual experience with e-therapy. Respondents judged disabled persons and those with mobility restrictions, caregivers of the chronically ill, new parents, the chronically ill, and teenagers as the most appropriate target populations. Attitudes toward benefits, barriers, and training predicted the applicability of e-therapy in practice.

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Participation in Child Welfare Services Through Information and Communication Technologies

ICTs for Advancing Rural Communities and Human Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-4666-0047-8.ch006 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 73-90

Author(s):

Susan Tregeagle

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Child Welfare ◽

Case Management ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Work Practice ◽

Social Work Practice ◽

Management Systems ◽

Service Users ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Social Work Interventions

Case management systems were designed to open the way for increased participation of young people and their families in child welfare interventions, and, their standardised format provides a valuable opportunity to use ICT in social work practice. Existing research is unclear about how effectively case management affects participation, nor, the impact of ICT on social work interventions. This paper describes the findings of qualitative research with service users about their experiences of case management and how ICT could further their involvement in critical decisions for families. Service users are keen to use ICT and this could help overcome the limitations of paper-based case management systems and exploit the communication potential of the internet and mobile phones. However, before ICT could be used, the complex ‘digital divide’ affecting disadvantaged families would need to be addressed and social workers’ understanding and current use of ICT would need to be explored.

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The ‘transnationality’ of Koreans, Korean families and Korean communities in Aotearoa New Zealand – implications for social work practice

Aotearoa New Zealand Social Work ◽

10.11157/anzswj-vol24iss1id139 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 24 (1) ◽

pp. 31-40 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Hong-Jae Park ◽

Jim Anglem

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

New Zealand ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Family Relationships ◽

Work Practice ◽

Social Work Practice ◽

Vital Role ◽

Korean Population ◽

Korean Families ◽

Information And Communication

Little is known about Korean migrants and their lives in New Zealand. They are likely to be ‘invisible’ in society whereas their population is growing rapidly. This paper describes who they are, how their family ties are reshaped, and what is going on in their community. Data were collected from a mixed method study utilising both qualitative and quantitative investigations. The findings of the study show that the Korean population is diverse despite the homogeneous portrait of it in New Zealand. The lifestyles of Korean migrants are likely to be ‘transnational’ between the homeland and the host society, and their family relationships are necessarily across the two nations. The Korean community plays a vital role as a catalyst to stimulate interactions with people, products and ideas within the migration context. The transnationality of the Korean population has become vividly apparent, coupled with the development of information and communication technologies. It is suggested that social work with contemporary migrants requires an understanding of the nature of transnational- ity that significantly affects migrant individuals, their families and communities.

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Participation in Child Welfare Services Through Information and Communication Technologies

International Journal of Information Communication Technologies and Human Development ◽

10.4018/jicthd.2010040102 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 2 (2) ◽

pp. 17-33 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Susan Tregeagle

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Child Welfare ◽

Case Management ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Work Practice ◽

Social Work Practice ◽

Management Systems ◽

Service Users ◽

Information And Communication ◽

The Impact

Case management systems were designed to open the way for increased participation of young people and their families in child welfare interventions, and, their standardised format provides a valuable opportunity to use ICT in social work practice. Existing research is unclear about how effectively case management affects participation, nor, the impact of ICT on social work interventions. This paper describes the findings of qualitative research with service users about their experiences of case management and how ICT could further their involvement in critical decisions for families. Service users are keen to use ICT and this could help overcome the limitations of paper-based case management systems and exploit the communication potential of the internet and mobile phones. However, before ICT could be used, the complex ‘digital divide’ affecting disadvantaged families would need to be addressed and social workers’ understanding and current use of ICT would need to be explored.

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Can Information and Communication Technologies Support Patient Engagement? A Review of Opportunities and Challenges in Health Social Work

Social Work in Health Care ◽

10.1080/00981389.2014.936991 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 53 (9) ◽

pp. 845-864 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Shelley L. Craig ◽

Maria Victoria Calleja Lorenzo

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Patient Engagement ◽

Communication Technologies ◽

Information And Communication

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Adicción a las Tecnologías: Adolescencia, familias y Trabajo Social. Revisión teórica del fenómeno

AZARBE, Revista Internacional de Trabajo Social y Bienestar ◽

10.6018/azarbe.395081 ◽

2019 ◽

pp. 71-80

Author(s):

Carlota Roca Belijar

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Communication Technologies ◽

Addictive Behavior ◽

The Other ◽

Behavior Patterns ◽

Leaving Home ◽

Information And Communication ◽

Special Mention ◽

Trabajo Social

Las Tecnologías de la Información y Comunicación (TIC), se encuentran totalmente difundidas en nuestra sociedad actual, tanto es así que ya no es extraño ver a cualquier persona llevando y/o utilizando un móvil o un ordenador con observable asiduidad. Por otra parte, tampoco es menos cierto el hecho de que las mismas se constituyen como una de las herramientas de más utilidad hoy en día, muchas son las ventajas que estas presentan, permiten desde facilitar la comunicación o relaciones hasta comprar sin salir de casa, por ejemplo. Sin embargo, no todo en ellas es positivo, en los últimos tiempos se está constatando el nacimiento de un nuevo fenómeno que afecta especialmente a niños/as y/o adolescentes, y es que, son cada vez más frecuentes los casos en los que éstos desarrollan patrones de conducta nocivos o adictivos en relación con el uso de las TIC. Este hecho, hace que todo en la vida de dichos/as niños/as y/o adolescentes cambie de manera radical al verse afectados numerosos aspectos o ámbitos de la misma como por ejemplo, el familiar, uno de los contextos más damnificados al ser el más próximo o cercano. En base a esto, a lo largo de este artículo se realizará un recorrido por alguna de las cuestiones que giran en torno a una adicción a las TIC, haciendo especial mención a la perspectiva del Trabajo Social en relación con este tema. Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), are fully disseminated in our current society, so much so that it is no longer strange to see anyone carrying and/or using a mobile or a computer with observable assiduity. On the other hand, it is not less true fact that they are constituted as one of the most useful tools today, there are any advantages that they present, they allow from facilitating communication or relationships to buying without leaving home, for example. However, not everything in them is positive, in recent times the birth of a new phenomenon that especially affects children and/or adolescents is being verified, and that is, the cases in which these are increasingly frequent develop harmful or addictive behavior patterns in relation to the use of ICT. This fact, makes everything in the life of such children and/or adolescents change radically as many aspects or areas of it are affected, such as family, one of the most affected contexts to be the closer or closer. Based on this, throughout this article there will be a tour of some of the issues that revolve around an addiction to ICT, making special mention of the perspective of Social Work in relation this issue.

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ВПЛИВ ІНФОРМАЦІЙНО-КОМУНІКАЦІЙНИХ ТЕХНОЛОГІЙ НА ФОРМУВАННЯ ПРОФЕСІЙНОЇ КОМПЕТЕНТНОСТІ ОСОБИСТОСТІ ФАХІВЦЯ СОЦІАЛЬНОЇ РОБОТИ

Information Technologies and Learning Tools ◽

10.33407/itlt.v66i4.2066 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 66 (4) ◽

pp. 93 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Valentyna V. Balakhtar

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Workers ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Human Person ◽

Communication Technologies ◽

Educational Process ◽

Professional Activity ◽

Education Development ◽

The Social ◽

Information And Communication

The problem of forming the competence of a specialist in social work has always been a complex issue that needs to be addressed as rapidly as possible. At present there is a growing demand for specialists in the social sphere, characterized by a clearly defined professional focus, high intellectual level, creativity, the ability to constant development and improvement, analyze the problems of vulnerable population groups, plan the work of both social workers and the social service in general, dedication to human, national ideas etc. The provision of quality education for prospective specialists in social work in Ukraine requires the revision of methods and forms, principles and approaches to their training. The article justifies the necessity of using the information and communication technologies in the educational process, as modern social workers should have a competitive advantage in the labor market, be able to respond efficiently to the problems in the human-human system relying on their own ability to communicate and cooperate with various categories of population, and at the same time striving to achieve a holistic development of one's own personality and professional activity, acquire competences, skills, professionalism. Nowadays the human person, with their essential nature and subjectivity is the highest objective of society. The introduction of information and communication technologies into the training promotes the development of professional competences of the future social workers and is an arms-length process of education development. Prospective trends of using information and communication technologies are determined as following: they can be both the object of study and the means of instructions. The results of a survey among specialists in social work on obtaining practical-oriented knowledge and skills have been presented.

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Impact of Emerging Technology in Social Work Practice

Social Work ◽

10.1093/obo/9780195389678-0277 ◽

2019 ◽

Author(s):

Paul Freddolino

Keyword(s):

Social Justice ◽

Social Work ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

New Technologies ◽

Emerging Technologies ◽

Work Practice ◽

The United States ◽

Social Work Practice ◽

Trade Offs ◽

Potential Impact

There is little doubt that social work practice has been, is, and will continue to be impacted by emerging technologies, generally defined in terms of information and communication technologies (ICT), in the United States and around the globe. However, while it is relatively easy to locate descriptions of innovative technologies and social work services utilizing these technologies, it is somewhat more difficult to locate concrete evidence to illustrate actual widely-adopted changes in the practice arena brought about as a result of ICTs. It is harder still to identify concrete, data-based evidence concerning the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of these technologies and services, the “real impact” that changes clients’ lives. Furthermore, there is little discussion concerning the concurrent impact of other significant ongoing transformations in social work practice that in some ways support increased impact of emerging technologies and in other ways limit their potential impact. Such trends as the following: the increasing prevalence of integrated mental health and substance abuse services into “behavioral health”; the promotion of inter-professional and multidisciplinary approaches; greater awareness of, and in some venues now required, focus on patient/client-centered care; heightened acknowledgement of the role of caregivers and their enhanced influence and power as advocates; heightened prevalence of universal design principles; increased attention to mindfulness; and greater sensitivity to the short- and long-term impact of trauma are all relevant. These trends create an environment in which emerging ICTs can have greater potential impact. They interact with both the development of new technologies and the escalating awareness of the potential of these technologies by practitioners, the agencies that employ them, and the clients and caregivers who utilize their services. Also involved are for-profit enterprises that see in this technology-enhanced arena a potential to earn substantial profits. The available sources make clear that little is indeed clear, and that there are both challenges and opportunities confronting the use of emerging technologies, with critical trade-offs between access and privacy, and between enhanced services and technology-related barriers to these services. Throughout this review social work’s commitment to social justice provides a lens that cannot be ignored, demanding recognition of sources whose description of impact may be less optimistic than that of ICT cheerleaders. The current state of affairs should serve as a call to action for all stakeholders in the human services to share information and data about these emerging trends, and to play an active role in their further development to ensure that the demands of social justice are addressed.

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The Digital Exclusion of Vulnerable Children: Challenge for Sustainability Issues in Czech Social Work Practice

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12239961 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (23) ◽

pp. 9961

Author(s):

Soňa Kalenda ◽

Ivana Kowaliková

Keyword(s):

Social Work ◽

Social Workers ◽

Information And Communication Technologies ◽

Ecological Model ◽

Work Practice ◽

Social Work Practice ◽

Target Group ◽

Ecological Problem ◽

Vulnerable Children ◽

Digital Exclusion

The aims of this study are (1) to draw attention to the digital exclusion of vulnerable children as a systemic (socio-ecological) problem that is gaining momentum during emergencies; (2) to reflect the subjectively perceived readiness of social workers as one of the actors in the system, whose task is to contribute to the mitigation of risks arising from digital exclusion of the target group and to ensure the sustainability development of society; (3) from the position of the target group, to reflect the situation of their digital literacy and thus exclusion; and (4) to make recommendations to public policy makers and social workers to mitigate these risks and to promote sustainability. We draw on the socio-ecological model of social work which views a person in the context of their environment. The aim of the research was to analyze the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) in social work with vulnerable children and their families and to detect system deficits contributing to digital exclusion. Based on a questionnaire survey (N = 105), interviews with representatives of the target group (N = 20), and expert interviews (N = 4), both the main shortcomings in the digital skills of employees and the needs of the target group were identified and systemic measures were proposed.

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