TY - JOUR
T1 - #socialwork
T2 - An International Study Examining Social Workers' Use of Information and Communication Technology
AU - Mishna, Faye
AU - Sanders, Jane E.
AU - Daciuk, Joanne
AU - Milne, Elizabeth
AU - Fantus, Sophia
AU - Bogo, Marion
AU - Fang, Lin
AU - Greenblatt, Andrea
AU - Rosen, Penny
AU - Khoury-Kassabri, Mona
AU - Lefevre, Michelle
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 The Author(s).
PY - 2022/3/1
Y1 - 2022/3/1
N2 - Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) permeated social work practice before coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In addition to ICT-based formal services (e.g. e-counselling), social workers used ICTs informally as an adjunct to face-to-face practice. Building on our previous research, our cross-sectional online survey examined social workers' informal use of ICTs in four countries: Canada, the USA, Israel and the UK. The survey was administered through Qualtrics software among social workers across Canada (n = 2,609), the USA (n = 1,225), Israel (n = 386) and the UK (n = 134), and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26. The findings substantiate the ubiquitous use of informal ICTs in social work practice, as an adjunct to face-to-face treatment, across the four countries. Given the current, unprecedented context of COVID-19, we discuss the meaning of our findings related to access, ethical considerations (e.g. professional boundaries) and supervision in the context of restricted face-to-face practice. We discuss the implications for social work practice, education and research, and conclude that in the COVID-19 context, there is an even greater need for research, clinical discussion, supervision and policy on informal ICT use in social work practice.
AB - Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) permeated social work practice before coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In addition to ICT-based formal services (e.g. e-counselling), social workers used ICTs informally as an adjunct to face-to-face practice. Building on our previous research, our cross-sectional online survey examined social workers' informal use of ICTs in four countries: Canada, the USA, Israel and the UK. The survey was administered through Qualtrics software among social workers across Canada (n = 2,609), the USA (n = 1,225), Israel (n = 386) and the UK (n = 134), and analysed using IBM SPSS Statistics version 26. The findings substantiate the ubiquitous use of informal ICTs in social work practice, as an adjunct to face-to-face treatment, across the four countries. Given the current, unprecedented context of COVID-19, we discuss the meaning of our findings related to access, ethical considerations (e.g. professional boundaries) and supervision in the context of restricted face-to-face practice. We discuss the implications for social work practice, education and research, and conclude that in the COVID-19 context, there is an even greater need for research, clinical discussion, supervision and policy on informal ICT use in social work practice.
KW - COVID-19
KW - clinical practice
KW - ethics
KW - informal ICT use
KW - information and communication technology
KW - social work
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85106207803&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1093/bjsw/bcab066
DO - 10.1093/bjsw/bcab066
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AN - SCOPUS:85106207803
SN - 0045-3102
VL - 52
SP - 850
EP - 871
JO - British Journal of Social Work
JF - British Journal of Social Work
IS - 2
ER -