Faculty members from FSU’s School of Information (iSchool) and School of Communication Science and Disorder (SCSD) have partnered with the College of Social Work (CSW) to examine information and communication technology (ICT) use among rural child welfare workers.

Christopher Constantino, assistant professor in SCSD, and iSchool professors Melissa Gross and Don Latham, collaborated Karen Randolph, Agnes Flaherty Stoops Professor in Child Welfare in FSU CSW, in order to bring a diverse mindset into the research. Titled “The subjective experience of information communication technology use among child welfare workers,” their work was published in Children and Youth Services Review, a multidisciplinary journal focused on social service programs.

“This research is important because rural child welfare workers often lack the resources to meet the high demands of their jobs,” said Constantino. “Our work has shown that one way to reduce this stress may be increased availability and training with information communication technology.”

Constantino looks forward to more partnerships like this in the future. He said, “This collaboration is important because our college houses some very different schools and we have shown that it is possible to pool our diverse skills and talent to accomplish meaningful work.”

This study in ICT use with child welfare workers was completed using the experience sampling method (ESM) in order to capture the nuances of technology use in this group’s daily work lives. Results highlight the need for agencies to explore the use of new types of ICT that may improve efficiency and expand opportunities for client contact.

Access the team’s published paper in Children and Youth Services Review here and learn more about the collaboration in the video below.