Social Work Services among Rural Communities

Social Work Services among Rural Communities

Social welfare policies lessen accessibility barriers that are common in rural communities. According to Daley (2020), rural communities have limited access to services like mental and behavioral health care, and through social welfare policies, such services can be made available to these communities. Economic downturns like the Great Depression tend to push individuals into poverty. During the Great Depression, most rural dwellers were affected as they recorded agricultural losses, losing livestock and land, which are their main sources of livelihood (Daley, 2020). To cushion rural dwellers from such effects, social welfare policies can provide unemployment benefits and food stamps to help those affected.

Social workers are responsible for meeting the diverse, unique needs of rural communities. Through research and tapping on information from one’s professional association, social workers can help identify the needs of individuals in different rural areas and find resources and services that can help address the identified needs. Upon need identification, social workers should mobilize support and advocate for legislative changes that can create and enhance service delivery (Daley, 2020). Social workers have the skills and knowledge that can be beneficial in addressing needs in rural communities. By tapping on skills like advocacy and community practice, they can help fill the gaps in rural communities.

I have found myself in a rural community that lacked important healthcare services, and one needed to travel long distances to gain access to these services. This is a common issue among most rural communities in the US since services like specialty mental health care are often unavailable (Morales et al., 2020). According to Daley (2020), some of the barriers to obtaining services include limited resources, geographic isolation that causes service inaccessibility, stigma related to seeking help for financial or mental health services, and policy gaps, whereby policies are designed for urban populations, hence shutting out the unique needs of the rural communities.

References

Daley, M.R. (2020). Rural social work in the 21st century: Serving individuals, families, and communities in the countryside. Oxford University Press.

Morales, D. A., Barksdale, C. L., & Beckel-Mitchener, A. C. (2020). A call to action to address rural mental health disparities. Journal of clinical and translational science, 4(5), 463-467.

ORDER A PLAGIARISM-FREE PAPER HERE

We’ll write everything from scratch

Discuss how Social Welfare Policy affects rural communities. Is this something a social worker should be involved with? How should they be involved and why?

Social Work Services among Rural Communities

Have you ever been in a rural community that lacks services? Do you think this is an issue for many rural communities around the country? What are some of the barriers we see for rural communities regarding obtaining services?