El Trabajo Social en el medio rural: una revisión sistemática de la literatura

Héctor Gil Rodríguez

doi:10.14198/ALTERN.24224

Autores/as

Héctor Gil Rodríguez Universidad de las Islas Baleares, España https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1842-8983

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14198/ALTERN.24224

Palabras clave:

Trabajo Social, servicios sociales rurales, población rural, desequilibrio regional

Resumen

Introducción. Este artículo analiza la labor profesional de los trabajadores sociales del medio rural en el marco internacional a través de una revisión sistemática de la literatura publicada entre 2009 y diciembre de 2022. En particular, se pretende dar respuesta a los siguientes interrogantes: ¿cuál es el estado del arte del Trabajo Social rural? y ¿cuál es la metodología empleada en las investigaciones disponibles? Metodología. Para ello se realizó un estudio bibliométrico según criterios PRISMA en las bases de datos Google Scholar, SSCI y Web of Science. Las palabras clave utilizadas (en castellano e inglés) fueron: trabajo social rural (rural social work), intervención social (social intervention), áreas rurales (rural areas). Estos descriptores se combinaron con el operador booleano AND. Se identificaron 509 artículos, de los cuales 18 fueron analizados por adecuarse a los criterios de elegibilidad del presente trabajo. Resultados. Los principales temas de estudio son las oportunidades y limitaciones de la actividad profesional en los medios rurales y las vulnerabilidades de estos territorios. Los resultados revelan que estos entornos no son atractivos para el ejercicio profesional del Trabajo social debido a la movilidad y el aislamiento. Se constata que la brecha territorial empeora el bienestar de los colectivos excluidos y dificulta su acceso a los servicios sociales. Discusión. Resulta llamativo que la labor de los trabajadores sociales rurales ocupe un lugar secundario en numerosas investigaciones. Pese a los avances, hay una evidente laguna de conocimiento sobre el Trabajo Social rural en España. Del mismo modo, este tema ha sido insuficientemente tratado en el marco internacional. Conclusiones. Las conclusiones aluden a la importancia de paliar la dispersión de este campo de conocimiento y de incorporar la variable territorial en los análisis y diagnósticos profesionales. Con esta contribución, pretendemos aportar evidencia de que la labor de los trabajadores sociales es fundamental para el futuro del mundo rural.

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