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PloS One 2023Information and communication technologies have significantly transformed the way advanced societies interact, produce, deliver services and consume resources. All walks... (Review)
Review
Information and communication technologies have significantly transformed the way advanced societies interact, produce, deliver services and consume resources. All walks of life are now touched by these technologies. However, compared to other areas of society, digital penetration is much lower in the development of and access to social services. The main objective of this paper was to find out what technological devices are used, how they are used and the way citizens interact with public bodies using technology to deliver social services. This has been part of a wider project on innovation in social services using participative methodologies centred on the development of local Hubs. The findings reveal a digital divide in technology-enabled access to social services that excludes the very people most in need of benefits and support.
Topics: Humans; Communication; Social Work; Technology
PubMed: 37141308
DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0284966 -
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine Oct 2023Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are integrated services involving doctors, paramedics, nurses, and social workers. This research was carried out to synthesize the... (Review)
Review
INTRODUCTION
Emergency Medical Services (EMS) are integrated services involving doctors, paramedics, nurses, and social workers. This research was carried out to synthesize the evidence concerning social work roles for EMS. The aim of this study was to synthesize literature on the social worker's role in EMS settings.
METHODS
The study was a systematic review. Data were collected through selected databases. The researcher used Scopus, Sociology Database, Social Science Database, and Public Health Database related to EMS and social work settings. English papers were selected, without restrictions on publication time, place, and year. The searched keywords were: "Social Work AND Emergency Medical Services AND Ambulance Services," "Social Worker AND Emergency Medical Systems AND Ambulance Services," "Social Work AND EMS," "Social Worker AND EMS," "Social Work OR Social Worker," "Social Work Role AND EMS," Social Worker AND EMS," "Emergency Medical Services OR/AND Emergency Medical Systems."
RESULTS
The study synthesized the literature about the social work role in pre-EMS, during emergency, and post-EMS. The following themes were highlighted: social workers act as cultural liaisons, effective communicators, emergency workers, and mental health practitioners, collaborating with other disciplines and researchers, for this study. In pre-emergency stages, social workers have roles as educators, communicators, advocates, and awareness builders. During an emergency, social workers act as search and rescue workers, advocates, facilitators, networkers, psychosocial assessors, consultants, counselors, and liaisons for referral activities. And in the post-emergency period, social workers have roles as planners, liaisons, interdisciplinary collaborators, researchers, evaluators, and individuals responsible for follow up.
CONCLUSION
This study synthesizes the roles of social workers in EMS settings. It is the first study on this topic, aiming to produce new knowledge, evidence, and an EMS practice framework for the social worker.
Topics: Humans; Emergency Medical Services; Social Work; Mental Health; Ambulances
PubMed: 37525489
DOI: 10.1017/S1049023X23006143 -
Journal of Gerontological Social Work 2022The growing aging population in Canada has multi-faceted psycho-social needs. Social workers are well-positioned to address these needs, despite many challenges. This...
The growing aging population in Canada has multi-faceted psycho-social needs. Social workers are well-positioned to address these needs, despite many challenges. This paper reports findings from the World Café at the Gerontology Symposium in Alberta, Canada, held in 2018. The goal was to learn from social work practitioners, researchers, and educators ( = 49) about current and future needs of gerontological social work in Alberta. There were two research questions: 1) What strategies do social workers need on the micro, mezzo, and macro levels to help better serve the growing older adult population in Alberta? (R1) 2) How can social workers promote the value and contribution of gerontological social work within the interprofessional community? (R2) The data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Ten R1-related themes emerged: personal traits of a social worker; professional skills; bio-psycho-social needs of older adults; community connections; access to benefits; gerontological social work education; integrated healthcare; aging policy; ageism; and advocacy to strengthen the voice of older adults. The three R2-related themes include strengthening the status of the social work profession; building trust through demonstrated skills; and interprofessional education and practice.
Topics: Humans; Aged; Alberta; Geriatrics; Social Work; Ageism; Aging
PubMed: 35264082
DOI: 10.1080/01634372.2022.2047860 -
Social Work Sep 2022
Topics: Humans; Sex Work; Social Work
PubMed: 35916634
DOI: 10.1093/sw/swac036 -
Social Work Dec 2022Endorsement of African-centered theory and practice are widespread within Black communities across the United States. The usage of African-centered frameworks is also...
Endorsement of African-centered theory and practice are widespread within Black communities across the United States. The usage of African-centered frameworks is also common among many Black social workers. However, past research suggests that African-centered theory and subsequent models of practice are marginalized within social work literature and curricula. Since advocacy began for the inclusion of African-centered approaches to practice during the mid to late 1990s, there have been no strategic analyses tracing how African-centered scholarship has advanced within social work. This study sought to examine to what extent the African-centered framework is included within scholarship among prominent social work journals. A content analysis was conducted of articles in six major social work journals published between 2000 and 2019. A total of 42 articles met the criteria for inclusion. While there has been a level of change in the number of published articles of African-centered social work, findings suggest that relative to other practice modalities/models, African-centered scholarship is noticeably lacking in social work literature. The article concludes with implications to advance culturally responsive research and practice with communities of African descent.
Topics: Humans; United States; Black or African American; Social Work; Black People; Curriculum; African People
PubMed: 36308774
DOI: 10.1093/sw/swac041 -
Social Work in Health Care 2023This paper reports findings from a qualitative study conducted on the Need for Social work interventions in the Emergency Department (ED) at a large tertiary care center...
This paper reports findings from a qualitative study conducted on the Need for Social work interventions in the Emergency Department (ED) at a large tertiary care center in India. The emergency department is an important social work intervention point for individuals with various psychiatric, medical, and social needs who have little or no additional interaction with social services. Social workers are specially trained to understand the impact of social factors on health outcomes and provide interventions that address social barriers to improving health and accessing community resources; social workers are well prepared to provide services in the emergency department. However, limited research is available to understand the impact of psychosocial services in the emergency department. We aimed to identify areas which require integrated social work services and coordination to address the psychosocial issues within the ED. Interviews with 10 healthcare workers are analyzed thematically. Recurring themes throughout the interviews confirm the need for providing social work interventions to ensure the medical, psychological, and social care needs in the emergency department.
Topics: Humans; Emergency Service, Hospital; Social Workers; Social Work; Health Personnel; India
PubMed: 37523327
DOI: 10.1080/00981389.2023.2238017 -
Social Work in Health Care Oct 2019Two paradigms are used to define disability. On the one hand, the biological paradigm, which attends to a person's deficiencies and difficulties. And, on the other hand,...
Two paradigms are used to define disability. On the one hand, the biological paradigm, which attends to a person's deficiencies and difficulties. And, on the other hand, the social, which does not treat disability as a pathology, but rather places the focus of interest on the deficient tools that society has to consider the capabilities of everyone. This article analyzes the scientific production on disability and social work, using bibliometric techniques and algorithms for the detection of communities, taking into account the current state of research worldwide. This analysis offers a holistic view of the characteristics of the work carried out in the world on this subject.
Topics: Bibliometrics; Biomedical Research; Disability Studies; Disabled Persons; Global Health; Humans; Social Work
PubMed: 31549931
DOI: 10.1080/00981389.2019.1659904 -
American Journal of Public Health Jul 2020To examine the extent to which social service organizations participate in the organizational networks that implement public health activities in US communities,...
To examine the extent to which social service organizations participate in the organizational networks that implement public health activities in US communities, consistent with recent national recommendations. Using data from a national sample of US communities, we measured the breadth and depth of engagement in public health activities among specific types of social and community service organizations. Engagement was most prevalent (breadth) among organizations providing housing and food assistance, with engagement present in more than 70% of communities. Engagement was least prevalent among economic development, environmental protection, and law and justice organizations (less than 33% of communities). Depth of engagement was shallow and focused on a narrow range of public health activities. Cross-sector relationships between public health and the housing and food sectors are now widespread across the United States, giving most communities viable avenues for addressing selected social determinants of health. Relationships with many other social and community service organizations are more limited. Public health leaders should prioritize opportunities for engagement with low-connectivity social sectors in their communities such as law, justice, and economic development.
Topics: Cooperative Behavior; Humans; Intersectoral Collaboration; Public Health; Public Health Administration; Social Welfare; Social Work; United States
PubMed: 32663092
DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2020.305694 -
Social Science & Medicine (1982) Oct 2022Evidence-based practice (EBP) has become a dominant paradigm in North American behavioral health and social service provision. Once a model of expert decision-making...
Evidence-based practice (EBP) has become a dominant paradigm in North American behavioral health and social service provision. Once a model of expert decision-making that asked practitioners to search through the "best available evidence" to inform their clinical decisions and select interventions, EBP is now better understood as a complex system of legitimation that designates particular methods and-by extension-their practitioners as "evidence-based." While critics worry that EBP forecloses professional discretion by imposing particular epistemic virtues of intervention science, this ethnographic case demonstrates that 1) EBP legitimates professional actors, methods, and organizations at least as much as it hampers them and 2) a wide range of "extra-scientific" actors are involved in producing and legitimating the evidence of evidence-based practice, including policy makers, public and private insurers, state agencies, charitable foundations, registries and clearinghouses, health and human service organizations, and helping professionals themselves. Once we recognize the range of actors and institutions involved in basing and legitimating evidence, and the rhetorical work of tethering scientific terms to resonant political and economic discourses, we learn that there is nothing self-evident about evidence-based practice. Drawing on the social scientific study of expertise and focusing empirically on how one behavioral intervention earns and retains its status as an EBP, this study traces the trans-institutional life of evidence and the continual need to legitimate it as a base for behavioral health practice.
Topics: Administrative Personnel; Evidence-Based Practice; Humans; Organizations; Social Work
PubMed: 36070634
DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115130 -
Bulletin of the World Health... Dec 2019
Topics: Community Health Services; Data Collection; Global Health; Health Policy; Healthy Aging; Humans; Life Style; Social Work; World Health Organization
PubMed: 31819284
DOI: 10.2471/BLT.19.246801