Social workers are essential workers within the mental healthcare and community development fields. They have many roles and so much to give.
Social workers are all about empowerment, advocacy, and multi-generational change.
But how does this help larger communities?
We have compiled a list of 6 ways in which social workers help with community development.
Practising Human Rights Activism
Social injustice involves any actions that infringe on the rights of an oppressed community. It involves groups being treated unfairly and lacking the opportunities of other social groups.
Social justice, the antithesis, is the belief in equity for all human beings, despite ethnicity, sexual orientation, gender, or age.
Social workers help community development by advocating for this equity and promoting its benefits. They work on behalf of the marginalized community. This is done by improving the dignity and worth of each individual, rippling out on a community level.
A social worker always keeps professional ethics in mind while advocating for equal rights. Many ethical dilemmas in social work arise. Tough decisions need to be made. These decisions need to ultimately serve and protect individuals and their communities.
Raising Awareness
Another way in which social workers help community development is by raising awareness of a community or client’s needs.
A community may need access to clean water and food, better education, healthcare, or childcare. Maybe addiction, unemployment rates, poverty, or abuse of various forms are the issues a community is facing.
No matter the case, a social worker is required to perform a needs assessment and conduct thorough research of the chosen community. They arrive with an open mind, connect with and listen to each community member’s perceived issues.
Online connectivity has made raising awareness of issues within marginalized communities easier. Social workers can now make ample use of online platforms to spread their message to a huge audience.
Providing Therapy
Social workers can provide individual, group, family, and couples therapy.
A social worker in particular will primarily focus on solution-focused programs and services. They design specialized treatment plans depending on what their clients need.
For example, a social worker can provide an individual facing unemployment, illness, or divorce with strategies to change their behavior or cope with their challenges.
Social workers can transform individual lives and, in turn, transform the lives within the surrounding community. They look at social work practice from an ecological perspective.
Providing therapy to needy people also requires brilliant organizational skills. Social workers need to constantly be on top of the maintenance of case files and records.
Creating Education And Intervention Programs
Another role of social workers is to create education and intervention programs.
Education programs can revolve around anything. But first, a social worker must identify what people truly need.
A community may be facing health and schooling issues, or economic and family concerns. An example of an issue for impoverished communities would be healthcare privatization in Ontario. A social worker based in Canada could opt to create an intervention program surrounding this issue.
A social worker could also form an education program based on prenatal care, immunization, senior care, job availability, dropout rates and the outcomes of this, adolescent parenting issues, STIs, etc. For example, one could educate a community on mental health through a workshop on ways to protect your brain.
The purpose of education programs is to show communities what resources they already possess. And provide them with the knowledge and capacity for change, self-growth, and self-improvement.
Managing Crises
Social workers are also consistently called upon to perform crisis management.
Crises can involve anything from domestic/gender-based/child abuse to mental health issues (suicidality or addiction), to crime, war, and natural disasters. And these crises could be taking place anywhere in the world. International travel allows social workers to transcend borders if they have the means to travel far and wide.
Crisis management involves strengthening family units to protect vulnerable communities, such as the elderly, children, women, people of color, or LGBTQIA+ community members.
Crisis management also often involves the investigation of allegations and court appearances. An example of this would be in the case of abused and neglected children who may end up needing to go into the foster care system. Follow-ups in this case are crucial.
Strengths Training
A strengths-based perspective is essential in all of the above.
Social workers must constantly ask themselves questions such as the following:
- What assets are already present within the community?
- What are their support structures?
- What resources are already in place?
- What about strengths?
Individuals and community members need to be empowered to play an active role in their community development. This ensures maintenance, independence, and sustainability once the project is in full force and the social worker leaves.
The longevity of community development actively depends on the participation of the community itself.
The community members need to be seen and heard. Social workers ask community members about their ideas and what roles they’d like to play. How can they get involved?
A good social worker leaves behind a strong community full of integration and inspiration.
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