BJSW Advance Access published online on February 16, 2009
British Journal of Social Work, doi:10.1093/bjsw/bcp010
Have Communication Technologies Influenced Rural Social Work Practice?
Keith Brownlee is a professor of social work in the School of Social Work, Lakehead University. John Graham is a professor of social work in the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary. Esther Doucette is a social worker working for the Canadian Association of Social Workers, Ottawa. Nicole Hotson is an MSW graduate of the School of Social Work, Lakehead University, and Glenn Halverson is a Ph.D. student in the Faculty of Social Work, University of Calgary.
Correspondence to Keith Brownlee, School of Social Work, Lakehead University, 955 Oliver Road, Thunder Bay, Ontario P7B5E1, Canada. E-mail: kbrownle{at}lakeheadu.ca
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Abstract |
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Recent advances in communication technologies have the capacity for addressing many of the challenges identified with rural and remote social work practice, such as scarcity of professional resources, professional isolation and limited access to supervision and professional development. The purpose of this exploratory, qualitative study was to examine how developments in communication technologies have influenced the way social workers practise social work in rural and remote Canadian areas. In-depth interviews were conducted with thirty-seven clinicians. The findings suggested that having access to communication resources, such as the internet, Telehealth and Telepsychiatry, appears to be positively addressing some issues of rural and northern practice. While the role of communication technologies could be further developed as a means of addressing some of the limitations of distance and fewer professional resources in these areas, it simultaneously risks imposing an urban-centric bias upon social work practice in rural and remote communities.
Keywords: Communication technology, rural social work, remote communities