COMMUNICATION CHALLENGES IN THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION OF SOCIAL WORK

Assoc. Prof. Nataliya Venelinova, PhD

Department of Management and Social Activities Faculty of Business and Management University of Ruse “Angel Kanchev”

ORCID: 0000-0002-7580-5263

E-mail: nvenelinova@uni-ruse.bg

Assoc. Prof. Irina Kostadinova, PhD

Department of Management and Social Activities Faculty of Business and Management University of Ruse “Angel Kanchev”

ORCID: 0000-0001-8845-7598

E-mail: ikostadinova@uni-ruse.bg

Abstract

The digital transformation of welfare institutions is reshaping the communicative, organisational, and ethical foundations of social work across Europe. Although digital technologies promise improved accessibility, service continuity, administrative efficiency, and inter-institutional coordination, they also generate substantial challenges for a profession grounded in dialogue, trust, contextual interpretation, and relationship-based support. This paper examines the communication challenges arising in the digital transformation of social work through a critical synthesis of recent scholarly literature and official evidence from the European Union and Bulgaria published within the last five years. The analysis integrates three interconnected strands of debate: digital communication between professionals and clients, AI-supported communication, and the digital competences of social workers.

Keywords

digital social work, communication, AI-supported communication, digital competencies, social services

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