Podcast

Episode 5 of the husITa Podcast

An Interview with Dr. Walter LaMendola exploring husIta’s past and discussing social work, social technologies, and sustainable community development

Author: Jimmy A. Young, PhD

I am really excited about this episode of the Podcast as I was fortunate enough to interview Dr. Walter LaMendola who is an Emeritus Professor at the University of Denver Graduate School of Social Work and one of the founders of the Human Services Information Technology Association or husITa. Walter provides some history about the development of husITa and offers his perspective of how technologies have progressed in the human services. I was happy to hear more about other individuals who have contributed to this great organization and our discussion about his article “Social Work, Social Technologies, and Sustainable Community Development” from the Journal of Technology in Human Services  provided me with some clarity about how important it is for social workers and human service professionals to be involved in the broader technology discussion. Some key takeaways for me included the notion that social technologies, like social media, help facilitate changes in human behavior and can even support and sustain community development. I really appreciated Walter’s ideas about how important technology is to delivering Social Work Education and that social work education has always had a transformative effect on local community life. Naturally we discussed some of the challenges and pitfalls of our current state of technology in regard to ethics and values but agree that we hope our current technologies continue in the tradition of developing networks that are friendly and support cultural values that encourage the flourishing of human beings. Dr. LaMendola reminded me that we need to look at technology as supportive of the human encounter rather than interfering with it, which I think is integral to the mission of the social work profession. I really hope you enjoy this episode of the husITa podcast.

As usual, I want to note that these blog posts are mainly place holders for any links and information that we thought would be good to share with our audience. The Posts will eventually also be home to the episode transcripts. We welcome any digital volunteers who would like to transcribe the episodes and if you feel so inclined, please reach out to us via our Contact page or on social media. Let us know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions. See you next month.

Links of Interest:

A Casebook of Computer Applications in the Social and Human Services (1989)

Episode #5:

Podcast Homepage: https://husita.podbean.com/

Twitter: @husITaOrg

LinkedIn: husITa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/husITaOrg

Listserv Instructions: http://www.husita.org/connect/mailing-list/

 husITa home page: www.husITa.org

APA (7th Ed) citation for this podcast:

Young, J. A. (Producer). (2021, April 28). #5 – An Interview with Dr. Walter LaMendola exploring husITa’s past and discussing social work, social technologies, and sustainable community development. [Audio Podcast]. husITa Podcast. Retrieved from https://husita.podbean.com/e/an-interview-with-dr-walter-lamendola-exploring-husita-s-past-and-discussing-social-work-social-technologies-and-sustainable-community-development/

Episode 4 of the husITa Podcast

An Interview with Dr. Tarsem Singh Cooner discussing the use of Facebook in Child Welfare Services and Social Work Practice

Author: Jimmy A. Young, PhD

In this episode of the Podcast, I discuss ethics, technology, and specifically the use of social media like Facebook in the provision of Child Welfare Services. I’m talking with Dr. Tarsem Singh Cooner about he and his co-author’s article; “The use of Facebook in social work practice with children and families: exploring complexity in an emerging practice,” which is currently available (as of the writing of this blog) via open access with the Journal of Technology in Human Services. The abstract of the article follows:

This article draws from a 15-month participant observation study of social work and child protection practices in England to illustrate how social workers used Facebook to gain another view of service-users’ lives. Social media use was not an intended focus for the study, its presence emerged during our data analysis. While some research has shown that such practices occur, our long-term ethnographic approach provides new insights into how Facebook was actually used in ongoing casework with families and why it was used. Our findings show that Facebook use took multiple forms. Some social workers actively searched service users’ Facebook pages and some opposed any such usage. We further advance the literature by introducing a third group who were unwillingly “drawn into” acting on Facebook information presented to them by others such as their managers. Our research insights suggest that social work must pause to consider the implications of these complex emerging practices.

I really appreciated the international  perspective of this article because the co-authors Liz Beddoe, Harry Ferguson, and Eileen Joy reside in the U.K. and New Zealand. When I first read this article, I thought I would mainly focus on the technological aspects of using Facebook in child welfare practice, but what emerged from the conversation was really a discussion about ethics and values. I have often explained to my own students that we really need to understand ethics and values in social work practice but especially when it comes to digital technologies and I was happy that Dr. Cooner centered our conversation in this subject. The reality is that social media is not going away anytime soon and we will continue to see the prevalence of digital technologies in our clients lives. We really need to better understand these technologies and the ethics of employing them. We discussed several ideas and resources in this podcast, which you should be able to find down below. I hope you enjoy this podcast.

As usual, I want to note that these blog posts are mainly place holders for any links and information that we thought would be good to share with our audience. The Posts will eventually also be home to the episode transcripts. We welcome any digital volunteers who would like to transcribe the episodes and if you feel so inclined, please reach out to us via our Contact page or on social media. Let us know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions. See you next month.

Research Project website: https://swcpp.weebly.com/

Find more of Dr. Cooner’s work: https://tscooner.weebly.com/

Email Tarsem Singh Cooner at t.s.cooner@bham.ac.uk

The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

Tarsem Singh Cooner on Twitter – @Akali65

Liz Beddoe on Twitter –  @BeddoeE

University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Harry Ferguson on Twitter – @Harr_Ferguson

The University of Birmingham, Birmingham, UK

Eileen Joy

University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand

Episode #4:

Podcast Homepage: https://husita.podbean.com/

Twitter: @husITaOrg

LinkedIn: husITa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/husITaOrg

Listserv Instructions: http://www.husita.org/connect/mailing-list/

 husITa home page: www.husITa.org

APA (7th Ed) citation for this podcast:

Young, J. A. (Producer). (2021, March 16). #4 – An Interview with Dr. Tarsem Singh Cooner discussing the use of Facebook in Child Welfare Services and Social Work Practice. [Audio Podcast]. husITa Podcast. Retrieved from https://husita.podbean.com/e/interview-with-dr-tarsem-singh-cooner-discussing-the-use-of-facebook-in-child-welfare-services-and-social-work-practice/

Episode 3 of the husITa Podcast

An Interview with Dr. Erica Nason & Dr. Mark Trahan discussing Virtual Reality Treatment and Exposure Therapy

Author: Jimmy A. Young, PhD

In this episode of the Podcast, I discuss Virtual Reality and 3600 video used with Exposure Therapy for Veterans with Social Anxiety Disorder with Dr. Erica Nason and Dr. Mark Trahan. They, along with their co-authors Scott Smith, Vengelis Metsis, and Katherine Selber published “Virtual Treatment for veteran social anxiety disorder: A comparison of 3600 video and 3D virtual reality” in the Journal of Technology in Human Services  last year. Borrowing from the abstract:

Virtual environments have been increasingly used in conjunction with traditional cognitive behavioral treatments for disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder and social anxiety disorder. Research has found that virtual environments can be effectively used as an alternative to in vivo or imaginal exposure. However, research has yet to compare the costs and benefits of different platforms, such as virtual reality and 3600 video, for creating virtual environments. The current qualitative study compares the experiences of veterans with symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder and social anxiety disorder as they interact with a virtual grocery store environment.

We also talked about some of the promising elements of virtual reality exposure therapy for future social work practitioners and human service providers. This technology has been evaluated for quite some time but there is still lots more to research and evaluate. I hope you enjoy this episode of the podcast and learn as much as I did about exposure therapy and virtual reality.

I also want to note that these blog posts are mainly place holders for any links and information that we thought would be good to share with our audience. The Posts will eventually also be home to the episode transcripts. We welcome any digital volunteers who would like to transcribe the episodes and if you feel so inclined, please reach out to us via our Contact page or on social media. This episode was really fun to produce and I hope you enjoy it. Let us know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions. See you next month.

Contact Dr. Nason at erica.nason@txstate.edu

Contact Dr. Trahan at marktrahan@txstate.edu

Dr. Mark Trahan on Twitter – @MarkTrahan18

Episode #3:

Podcast Homepage: https://husita.podbean.com/

Twitter: @husITaOrg

LinkedIn: husITa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/husITaOrg

Listserv Instructions: http://www.husita.org/connect/mailing-list/

 husITa home page: www.husITa.org

APA (7th Ed) citation for this podcast:

Young, J. A. (Producer). (2021, February 17). #3 – An Interview with Dr. Erica Nason & Dr. Mark Trahan discussing Virtual Reality Treatment and Exposure Therapy. [Audio Podcast]. husITa Podcast. Retrieved from https://husita.podbean.com/e/interview-with-dr-erica-nason-dr-mark-trahan-discussing-virtual-reality-treatment-and-exposure-therapy/

Episode 2 of the husITa Podcast

An Interview with Dr. Laura Nissen discussing Social Work & the Future in a Post COVID-19 World

Author: Jimmy A. Young, PhD

In this episode of the Podcast, I discuss with Futurism and Foresight Practice with Dr. Laura Nissen. She published “Social Work and the Future in a Post-Covid 19 World: A Foresight Lens and a Call to Action for the Profession” in the Journal of Technology in Human Services  back in July of 2020. Borrowing from the abstract:

This paper explores what being more future facing might look like for social workers/educators and introduces foresight as a useful and urgently needed framework for the profession. Contemporary realities like Covid-19 and uprisings associated with long-standing racial violence bring added relevance to the need to apply new ways of thinking, use new practical techniques, and strengthen a collective ability to see beyond the current cannon of ideas and approaches. These additions to the social work toolbox are much needed in a world full of inequity, change and turbulence. Utilization of a foresight lens has the opportunity to amplify and deepen the sociological and moral imagination, as well as the strategic effectiveness of the profession of social work now and in the years ahead. The paper ends with a call to action to amplify and evolve social work strengths to join the interdisciplinary community of those using forecasting methods to build a better future.

I was surprised to find that her futurist work is centered in a foresight planning framework that also reflects on the past as much as it plans for the future. We talk about the role of technology, ethics, and how foresight and futurist work is not really a solo practice but more of a global process and way finding. It’s a practice and not necessarily a destination. My biggest take away is that the future of social work is learning how to work with technology in a way that expands our capability, not diminishes it. 

I should probably note that these blog posts are mainly place holders for any links and information that we thought would be good to share with our audience. The Posts will eventually also be home to the episode transcripts. We welcome any digital volunteers who would like to transcribe the episodes and if you feel so inclined, please reach out to us via our Contact page or on social media. This episode was really fun to produce and I hope you enjoy it. Let us know if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions. See you next month.

Dr. Laura Nissen on Twitter – @LauraNissen

Dr. Nissen’s Blog – https://socialworkfutures.com/

The Social Work Health Futures Lab

Episode #2: https://husita.podbean.com/e/interview-with-dr-laura-nissen/

Podcast Homepage: https://husita.podbean.com/

Twitter: @husITaOrg

LinkedIn: husITa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/husITaOrg

Listserv Instructions: http://www.husita.org/connect/mailing-list/

 husITa home page: www.husITa.org

APA (7th Ed) citation for this podcast:

Young, J. A. (Producer). (2021, January 14). #2 – An Interview with Dr. Laura Nissen discussing Social Work & the Future in a Post COVID-19 World. [Audio Podcast]. husITa Podcast. Retrieved from {URL}

Introducing the husITa Podcast

Author: Jimmy A. Young, PhD

Welcome to the inaugural husITa Podcast. Below you will find a link that should open the Podcast’s homepage on Podbean and you should also be able to find this Podcast just about wherever you get your Podcasts. This inaugural episode is a short one, just over six and half minutes long, and really just gives a bit of background on the human services Information Technology Association (husITa). The idea for this podcast is to help disseminate research around technology in the human services and features interviews with authors of recently published work in the Journal of Technology in Human Services. This will be a monthly podcast and may increase in frequency depending on a number of factors. We hope that you will subscribe and share these podcasts with your networks.  As mentioned in the first episode, below are all the links that were discussed.

Podcast Homepage: https://husita.podbean.com/

Episode #1: https://husita.podbean.com/e/introducing-the-husita-podcasts/

Twitter: @husITaOrg

LinkedIn: husITa

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/husITaOrg

Listserv Instructions: http://www.husita.org/connect/mailing-list/

 husITa home page: www.husITa.org

APA (7th Ed) citation for this podcast:

Young, J. A. (Producer). (2021, January 14). #1 – Introducing the husITa Podcast. [Audio Podcast]. husITa Podcast. Retrieved from {URL}