The Role of It in Helping Social Workers Serve Rural Communities

Across the United States, there are close to 650,000 social workers, of which 80 percent are located in cities. The overwhelmingly urban concentration of social work professionals leaves individuals and families in geographically less-populated areas inadequately covered by critical social support systems.

According to the National Rural Health Association, rural and frontier communities have nearly 140 percent more Health Professional Shortage Areas than their urban counterparts. And even though the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects the social work field should grow by 12 percent nationally between 2014 and 2024, current demographic estimates reveal this growth will not be enough to meet the growing social work needs of people living far from urban locations.

To learn more, check out the infographic below provided by the University of Nevada, Reno’s Online Master of Social Work program.