Teaching the Importance and Use of Web-Based Services to Assist Clients in Obtaining Public Benefits

Abstract

Research suggests that social work students and practitioners are not particularly sensitive to assessing clients' economic hardship, nor when needed to assist clients in accessing relevant resources such as public benefits. To enhance students' understanding of the importance of engaging in these activities, this article provides educational content on the frequent occurrence and negative effects of poverty, advantages of receiving public benefits, barriers to program participation, and social work values and educational requirements. Examples of web-based services, an efficient strategy to assist economically disadvantaged clients in accessing public benefits, are then provided. Finally, teaching applications are drawn from the previous sections.

Keywords:

• information technology
• web-based services
• public benefits barriers