Description
This is the first book to show how digitalisation and the better provision of information and communication technologies (ICTs) can improve access to a wide-range of social services, as well as make them more inclusive. Overcoming disparities across social groups using contemporary digitalisation models will have lasting consequences on social well-being and human welfare.
Reflecting on current trends the authors vividly illustrate the collective, global nature of the challenge that digitalisation represents for providers, administrators and users of welfare services. It is important, therefore, to bear in mind the following for research design and practice:
- Citizens' rights must be protected
- Consideration should be given to how the services provided can be improved by more effective use of ICTs
- Digital interventions require better service coordination in the setting of priorities and specific training in digital skills for service providers and service users
The chapters in this book address these problems and challenges in great depth, analysing the role of ICTs in promoting social inclusion and social welfare, drawing on examples of successful ICT applications around the world. The book contains country case-studies from the United States, Brazil, India, the Republic of Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong (China), Zimbabwe, Morocco, Spain, Portugal, Ireland and Singapore and will be of interest to all scholars and students of social policy, to social work educators, and social care providers.
Table of Contents
Part I: The Key Issues in the Role of Information and Communication Technologies for Social Inclusion and Social Welfare
Chapter 1 - Promoting Digital Inclusion: Intergenerational Aspects
Sergei Zelenev
Chapter 2 - Social Welfare and Inclusion in Digital Societies: Surveillance, Data Capitalism and COVID-19
Chaime Marcuello Servós
Chapter 3 - ICTs, Public Participation and Social Inclusion in the European Union: Trends and Challenges in a Digital Society
Marta Lora-Tamayo
Chapter 4 - Manifesting an Inclusive Society: Using Universal Design Theory with ICT to Supercharge the Empowerment and Participation of Marginalised Populations
Gloria Kirwan
Chapter 5 - Digital Social Work: Strategies to Incorporate Digital Media into Practice and Research
Joaquín Castillo de Mesa
Part II: Country Cases of Successful Information Communication Technology Applications in the Field of Social Welfare
Chapter 6 - Social Inclusion, Social Network and Community Social Work
Jorge M. L. Ferreira
Chapter 7 - Access and Strategies for the Future of Online Social Work Services and Education: Disrupting Traditional Social Work
Ngoh Tiong Tan
Chapter 8 - ICT and Digital Social Work: The Case of Spain
Antonio López Peláez
Chapter 9 - Digital Equity and Inclusion in Technology-Based Mental Health Services
Marvyn R. Arévalo Avalos & Adrian Aguilera
Chapter 10 - ICT and Social Welfare in Korea
Park Yeong-Ran
Chapter 11 - Cases of ICT Applications in Taiwan for Smart Living and Youth Mental Well-Being Under COVID-19
Wen-Shan Lin
Chapter 12 - The Leap Forward in ICT Development in the Social Welfare Sector of Hong Kong: Opportunities and impacts
Wong Yu-cheung
Chapter 13 - Digital Practice for Social Work in Zimbabwe: Success, Challenges and Opportunities
Msekiwa Makwanya
Chapter 14 - ICT and Social Media - How to Avoid Social Exclusion?
Amine Mounir Alaoui
Chapter 15 - ICT in Improving Access to Welfare and Enhancing Transparency in Governance: The Case of Pune District Council, India
Ayush Prasad, P.K. Shajahan and Avadh Bihari
Chapter 16 - Information and Communication Technologies in the Unified Social Assistance System: Right to Social Inclusion
Márcia Helena Carvalho Lopes
