Research on the effectiveness of utilizing social workers in building a community-based society

Local welfare capabilities in Japan have reduced and this means that social problems are increasing. For example, the 8050 problem, double care and social exclusion are all on the rise. Action is required through a community-based approach to welfare. Associate Professor Takashi Kohno, Graduate School of Integrated Human and Social Sciences, Faculty of Integrated Human Studies and Social Sciences, Fukuoka Prefectural University, is interested in the benefits of a community-based society and how this can be achieved. Although the Japanese Government has proposed the realisation of a community-based society, there hasn’t been clarification on the role of social workers and other professionals in achieving this. Kohno believes it is necessary to refine care management methods that could adjust and provide appropriate services and social resources according to people’s needs. In one project, he explored the effectiveness of utilising social workers in building a community-based society and set out to clarify how social work practice can be effectively developed to realise this kind of society. Kohno and the team analysed the results of questionnaires from comprehensive support centres and municipal social welfare councils and found that the social work functions were care management, interprofessional work and the promotion of collaboration through leadership and facilitation. In addition to the micro level function of care management, through which formal and informal services and social resources that are tailored to client needs are provided, meso-level functions build a system for distributing resources and budgets and it’s crucial to organically develop these functions.