scholarly journals Information and Communication Technologies in Social Work

10.18060/241 ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 67-81 ◽  
Author(s):  
Brian E. Perron ◽  
Harry O. Taylor ◽  
Joseph Glass ◽  
Jon Margerum-Leys

Information and communication technologies (ICTs) are electronic tools used to convey, manipulate and store information. The exponential growth of Internet access and ICTs greatly influenced social, political, and economic processes in the United States, and worldwide. Regardless of the level of practice, ICTs will continue influencing the careers of social workers and the clients they serve. ICTs have received some attention in the social work literature and curriculum, but we argue that this level of attention is not adequate given their ubiquity, growth and influence, specifically as it relates to upholding social work ethics. Significant attention is needed to help ensure social workers are responsive to the technological changes in the health care system, including the health care infrastructure and use of technology among clients. Social workers also need ICT competencies in order to effectively lead different types of social change initiatives or collaborate with professionals of other disciplines who are using ICTs as part of existing strategies. This paper also identifies potential pitfalls and challenges with respect to the adoption of ICTs, with recommendations for advancing their use in practice, education, and research.

Author(s):  
J. van Hoof ◽  
E. J. M. Wouters ◽  
H. R. Marston ◽  
B. Vanrumste ◽  
R. A. Overdiep

Technology can assist older adults to remain living in the community. Within the realm of information and communication technologies, smart homes are drifting toward the concept of ambient assisted living (AAL). AAL-systems are more responsive to user needs and patterns of living, fostering physical activity for a healthier lifestyle, and capturing behaviours for prevention and future assistance. This study provides an overview of the design-requirements and expectations towards AAL-technologies that are formulated by the end-users, their relatives and health care workers, with a primary focus on health care in The Netherlands. The results concern the motivation for use of technology, requirements to the design, implementation, privacy and ethics. More research is required in terms of the actual needs of older users without dementia and their carers, and on AAL in general as some of the work included concerns less sophisticated smart home technology.


2018 ◽  
Vol 66 (4) ◽  
pp. 93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentyna V. Balakhtar

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.


2019 ◽  
Vol 63 (6) ◽  
pp. 730-745
Author(s):  
Julie Cwikel ◽  
Enav Friedmann

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.


Author(s):  
Viktoriia Stepanenko ◽  

The article reveals the main means, forms and possibilities of using information and communication technologies in preventive social work with various categories of the population. It is noted that the need for the use of information and communication technologies by social workers in the prevention of negative social phenomena is due to the informatization of society, the strategic importance of ensuring free access of various categories of the population to information, the need for personal information culture, healthy lifestyle. It is noted that the most common mass, informational, methodological and research measures for the prevention of negative social phenomena in the activities of social workers today cannot do without the use of information and communication technologies. Information and communication technologies of professional activity of a social worker are defined as a technology of designing and creating an information product for social and socio-educational purposes. The advantages and disadvantages of using information and communication technologies in preventive social work are considered. The essence of the social services of prevention, information support of the system of providing social services, social advertising in the context of the use of information and communication technologies in the professional activity of a social worker has been determined.


2011 ◽  
Vol 3 (4) ◽  
pp. 25-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. van Hoof ◽  
E. J. M. Wouters ◽  
H. R. Marston ◽  
B. Vanrumste ◽  
R. A. Overdiep

Technology can assist older adults to remain living in the community. Within the realm of information and communication technologies, smart homes are drifting toward the concept of ambient assisted living (AAL). AAL-systems are more responsive to user needs and patterns of living, fostering physical activity for a healthier lifestyle, and capturing behaviours for prevention and future assistance. This study provides an overview of the design-requirements and expectations towards AAL-technologies that are formulated by the end-users, their relatives and health care workers, with a primary focus on health care in The Netherlands. The results concern the motivation for use of technology, requirements to the design, implementation, privacy and ethics. More research is required in terms of the actual needs of older users without dementia and their carers, and on AAL in general as some of the work included concerns less sophisticated smart home technology.


Author(s):  
Esther Vaquero-Álvarez ◽  
Antonio Cubero-Atienza ◽  
Pilar Ruiz-Martínez ◽  
Manuel Vaquero-Abellán ◽  
María Dolores Redel Mecías ◽  
...  

Since the eighties, technological tools have modified how people interact in their environment. At the same time, occupational safety and health measures have been widely applied. The European Agency for Safety and Health at Work considers that information and communication technologies are the main methods to achieve the goals proposed to improve working life and the dissemination of good practices. The principal objective was to determine the trends of publications focused on these technologies and occupational safety in the healthcare sector during the last 30 years. A bibliometric study was carried out. The 1021 documents showed an increased trend per country, especially for the United States (p < 0.001) and year (p < 0.001). The citations per year showed significant differences between citations of articles published before 2007 (p < 0.001). The year was also linked to the increase or decrease of articles (72.2%) and reviews (14.9%) (p < 0.001). The analysis of journal co-citations also showed that the main journals (such as Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology) were linked to other important journals and had a major part in the clusters formed. All these findings were discussed in the manuscript and conclusions were drawn.


Author(s):  
M.Z Ramorola

There has been a steady rise in the practice and performance of religious activities within the cyberspace since the 1980s. Many pastors have embraced the use of technology in their religious and ministerial practices. However, what would be more critical is to understand how technology, once adopted and operational would assume the function of support and fulfil religious members’ spiritual, emotional and social needs. This paper discusses technology use in religious organizations, particularly during the lockdown period of Covid-19 between March 2020 to the July 2021. The article uses South Africa as a research context to explore technology use and its role to address the challenges of support, space and practice. The paper employed a qualitative interpretive paradigm to source data from six members from different religious organizations in South Africa. Three themes arose from the data: information and communication technologies provide space for religious member to network; information and communication media facilitate religious practice and activities; and information and communication technologies enhance management of resources.


2017 ◽  
Vol 56 (02) ◽  
pp. 83-87
Author(s):  
Abdulfattah S. Mashat ◽  
Habib M. Fardoun

SummaryObjective: The present editorial is part of the focus theme of Methods of Information in Medicine entitled “Technologies solutions schemes for Patients’ Rehabilitation: Methodologies, Models and Algorithms”. The focus theme aims to present nowadays most innovative solutions to improve patients’ rehabilitation by applying and using sophisticated and pioneering Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and human factors.Methods: The focus theme explores the different existent research works and tools used, applied and developed for incapable people in terms of rehabilitation and health care, as to look into the extent methodologies, models and algorithms by means of ICT in this process.Results: The focus theme lists a group of research works, which are presenting various solutions using ICT systems to improve the rehabilitation process of people with physical incapacities and to help them in carrying out their daily life.


2006 ◽  
Vol 5 ◽  
pp. 2-5
Author(s):  
Georg Marckmann ◽  
Kenneth W Goodman

Computer-based information and communication technologies continue to transform the delivery of health care and the conception and scientific understanding of the human body and the diseases that afflict it. While information technology has the potential to improve the quality and efficiency of patient care, it also raises important ethical and social issues. This IRIE theme issue seeks to provide a forum to identify, analyse and discuss the ethical and social issues raised by various applications of information and communication technology in medicine and health care. The contributions give a flavour of the extraordinarily broad landscape shaped by the intersection of medicine, computing and ethics. In fact, their diversity suggests that much more work is needed to clarify issues and approaches, and to provide practical tools for clinicians.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document