Rachael Dietkus, a licensed social worker and design thinking expert based in Chicago, USA, delivers a lecture about Social Work and Design Thinking to DSWD social workers enrolled in the Master in Social Work - Post Graduate Diploma on Child Protection in January 21, 2022 via Zoom.

Ms. Dietkus is the founder of Social Workers who Design, a cause-driven, trauma-responsive design consultancy in the US dedicated to advocating for social workers in design research projects.

“Social workers also think like designers” according to Ms. Dietkus. She urges social workers to use their unique social work skills in design by asking questions such as “How will we..” and “How can we..” in designing interventions that respond to clients’ issues.

“Design Thinking is a new learning and very helpful tool during this time of pandemic. It helps us think of varied strategies on how we can improve our work adopting to the new normal in engaging to our clients we are serving,” says a participant.