The Role of Social Workers and Community Psychologists in Promoting the Social Welfare of Vulnerable Persons and Groups in Mezam Division of Northwest Cameroon

Vulnerable populations living in the communities of Mezam Division of the Northwest region of Cameroon suffer from near absent or inadequate social welfare services. Understanding the role of social workers and community service providers such as community psychologists in the community and seeking their assistance when need be would alleviate the mental health and plight of these vulnerable persons in dire need of social welfare. These vulnerable persons and groups include minors below 18, the elderly, persons with disabilities, persons living with mental illness and HIV AIDS, indigenous groups such as the Mbororos, orphans, widows, women and internally displaced persons or IDPs. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate the role of social workers and community service providers in promoting the social welfare of vulnerable persons and groups in the Mezam community. More specifically, the study sought to ascertain the extent to which social workers and community service providers perform the role of counsellors, mediators and agents of social change with respect to the promotion of the social welfare of vulnerable populations within in the Mezam community. The employed a case study research design using qualitative techniques. Focus group discussions, interviews and observations were used to obtain qualitative data from a sample of 25 social workers working at office and field locations under the Mezam Divisional Delegation of Social Affairs. Data was analyzed with the aid of the Statistical Package for Social Sciences SPSS version 23.0 for Windows. The qualitative data was analyzed using content analysis with the support of ATLAS.ti software version 8.0. Based on the findings, recommendations were made to social workers and community service providers notably community psychologists who were advised to make efforts to increase their mastery of core competencies and skills through additional professional training and to increase the visibility of their services within the community through outreach. Azinwi Terence Niba "The Role of Social Workers and Community Psychologists in Promoting the Social Welfare of Vulnerable Persons and Groups in Mezam Division of Northwest Cameroon" Published in International Journal of Trend in Scientific Research and Development (ijtsrd), ISSN: 2456-6470, Volume-6 | Issue-4 , June 2022, URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/papers/ijtsrd50305.pdf Paper URL: https://www.ijtsrd.com/other-scientific-research-area/other/50305/the-role-of-social-workers-and-community-psychologists-in-promoting-the-social-welfare-of-vulnerable-persons-and-groups-in-mezam-division-of-northwest-cameroon/azinwi-terence-niba