Grand Challenge of Social Work's Harness Technology for Social Good: Scoping Review

Purpose: The Grand Challenges for Social Work initiative addresses critical social problems through social work science. This scoping review examines the first 5 years (2015–2019) of the Harness Technology for Social Good challenge, mapping literature by social work researchers on technology's role in improving client system outcomes. Methods: We mapped the existing social work literature published between 2015 and 2019 about using technology to address practice outcomes for client systems. Results: Overall, we found a clear pattern in which social work researchers were contributing to the scholarship on technology-mediated interventions and providing evidence that technology had positive or helpful outcomes in work with client systems. Discussion: While our scoping review was limited to English-language publications, which may have excluded significant scholarly work from non-English speaking regions, our findings indicate that social work scholars have significantly contributed to the scholarship on technology-mediated interventions, demonstrating positive impacts on practice outcomes.