Abstract: Submission #98

Abstract The later part of the 20th century the world witnessed the unprecedented emergence of the digital age and its impact on human functioning. Traditionally social work practice has a strong “face-to-face” practice foundation, and the digital era is now presenting a review of this approach to service rendering with the emergence of e-social work. A qualitative study was conducted that explored social work educators and practitioners’ perceptions and experiences of e-social work and its infusion in social work curriculum and further training. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with social work educators and practitioners. The findings indicate that there exists limited understanding and experience with e-social work. Capacity-building is thus crucial in order to engage with client systems both in the offline world and online spaces that people inhabit.