Based on a recent UK study of social workers’ digital capabilities majority of the social workers don’t feel their initial education prepares them for using digital technologies in practice, but most respondents rated their digital skills as ‘good’ (47%) or ‘very good’ (31%).

The research carried out by the Social Care Institute for Excellence (SCIE) and the British Association of Social Workers (BASW) show that

  • only 11% are satisfied with their social work training to help their “digital readiness” and more than the half feel their training was unhelpful,
  • 27% of respondents have not received any training around technology in the past two years, and a further 55% received training only once or twice.

Based on the practitioners’ feedback:

  • Workplace systems “should prioritise relationship-based practice and person-centred care over performance management”,
  • To have better functioning systems practitioners and service users should be involved in the development,
  • New technologies should help the work of social workers and not replace them,
  • Service users must have a choice over how they interact with services,
  • Concerns regard data security and privacy should be addressed.

It is hard to keep well-informed of technological innovation for each party, as well as for regulators and social work educators to respond by developing new policies, guidance, and training.

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