Technology Blog
Technology in Social Work
As it is becoming more and more advanced, technology has become apart of our every day routines. Between finding a breakfast recipe, to face timing your grandma, we use technology without a second thought. As technology continues to grow and advance, it has become a norm for many professions to use technology in some shape or form.
Just as all other professions are incorporating technology into their work, so is social work. The social work profession focuses to enhance human well-being and help meet basic and complex needs of all people. Technology has helped advance this career to a whole new level. A simple technological advance in the career that we often overlook, is telephone use. The social work profession uses telephones to easily contact, meet, and talk with clients. There are also numerous 24 hours telephone lines for those to call during mental health challenges. Some examples are as follows:
- National Suicide Prevention Line - 988
- Self-harm Hotline - 800-366-8288
- National Domestic Violence Hotline - 800-799-7233
The social work profession also took a huge step forward thanks to technology more recently. During 2020 when Covid-19 hit, everything was shut down but that did not mean there were not mental health crises. While Telehealth had already been a thing, it became much more popular after the pandemic. Online counseling and meeting with clients became so much easier. Clients no longer had to worry about travel expenses or finding a social worker in the area. Social workers use technology daily to schedule patients, take notes on clients, conduct research, and so much more. The use of technology has allowed social workers to take better care of the clients as they are able to support them easily and more rapidly. The most obvious advantage technology has given social workers is a platform. With technology and social media, social workers can create voices and get the message out about help in local communities or help that people are looking for.
Hello Sabrina!! I love your blog because it truly focuses on a profession that now relies heavily on all kinds of technology. Before reading your blog, I did not realize how much the social work profession relies on technology. I love that many of the services needed have switched to online because it allows the client to focus on their health and not have to worry about driving to an office. In addition, technology allows companies to spread information that benefits a community. More people are now able to benefit from this information. Over the next few years, I feel like the technology will increase even more and in turn, will help social workers and other professions even more. Great post!!
ReplyDeleteHey Sabrina, I think you made some really good points in this post especially in how every field made major advancements over the years were were were dealing with covid. It was especially helpful in fields like medicine and mental health like you said, as more support networks move online more and more people will be able to access the care they need without access to a car or some way to come in to an office. overall I think this mass adaptation of technology in work will help everyone to have more options and better accessibility for everybody.
ReplyDeleteHi Sabrina! I agree with everything you stated in your blog post. Technology around us is so important these days. Before covid, I personally never realized Telehealth existed. In today's society and technological advances, Telehealth is so important when it comes to accessibility for many. Many people may not have a form of transportation, so the ability to talk to their social worker or doctor online, is such an advancement.
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