ABSTRACT
As the pandemic surges, the need for remote social work practice (RSWP) is urgent and ensuring that students entering practice are prepared to engage is paramount. Students entering the workforce must be able to demonstrate competency and educators must explore how they are preparing students for RSWP. A cohort of twenty-one MSW students were invited to participate in this study exploring curriculum exposure to RSWP and subsequent confidence and readiness to engage in practice. Only a subset of this cohort (n=13) agreed to participate in the study. This study explored exposure to RSWP concepts through a foundation-level MSW curriculum, practicum, and other program contacts. Results show that even though students were primarily exposed to RSWP in practicum and courses that focus on basic interpersonal skills, other courses, such as research and policy also provided exposure. Students reported that theory and diversity courses made no mention of RSWP. This is concerning because these courses are meant to educate students on practice frameworks and service contexts for underserved populations, like those that are commonly served via RSWP. Although limited, this study has implications for how social work educators embed RSWP throughout the curriculum, instead of siloing this topic in practice courses. © 2022 Authors.
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the pace of the digital transition process in which we have been immersed. In a context of generalized lock-down, our organizations have been forced to go digital and many of the activities social workers perform must now be done remotely. As a result, e-social work, or digital social work, has gone from being an emerging specialization to a critical specialty across organizations and activities. In this article, we examine some basic scientific and methodological foundations to develop a science of social work from the perspective of critical realism, with special attention to digitalization. Establishing the scientific foundations of digital social work is a preliminary step for its development as a field of specialization. © 2021, Western Michigan University. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
Ensuring that individuals who exhibit difficulties or problems are able to stay in their family and community environments has been an issue of concern for governments and welfare states for several decades. Authorities now seek to reverse the impact of periods or years of institutionalization and concealment of a variety of personal and social realities. It should be highlighted that two phenomena, in particular, have increased interest in helping to keep individuals in their homes and community. First, aging populations and increased life expectancy, and second, the possibilities afforded by Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs). The aging population is a constant throughout the Western world. To date, ICT is a field that has been underexploited in Southern Europe and specifically in the case of Spain. Nevertheless, ICT is experiencing a boom and we believe it can shape and reshape professional, personal, and family practices, as well as public policies and program design in the near future. In turn, the situation resulting from the Covid-19 pandemic, which began in 2020, has led to moments of lockdown, curfews, and restrictions of movement, which in some cases have increased the isolation and loneliness of the elderly and those with health and mobility problems. Paradoxically, Covid-19 has also acted as a technology driver by increasing the use of social media, online shopping, and technologies such as video calls, video chats, etc., for personal, work, and educational activities. In this article, we highlight developments from an ongoing research project based on a case study from a social action organization that responded to the crisis by providing and managing health, social, and technology services. The organization in question is the Spanish Red Cross, and, more specifically, we analyze the case of the Red Cross in Zaragoza, Spain. This study aims to show the evolution of scenarios and tools employed to respond to user needs within a process of digital convergence facilitated by the use of interactive applications, based on “peer-to-peer” communication as a complementary strategy to the usual practice of social work, towards what could constitute a new context of work and intervention such as e-social work. © 2021, Western Michigan University. All rights reserved.